Center for Computational and Integrative Biology

Register now for the third Gene Lay Institute Annual Symposium - Friday, July 31, 2026. Featuring an exciting lineup of speakers, including the 2025 Nobel Laureate Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi and incoming CCIB faculty Marco Colonna. More information and registration here.

Welcome Lucas!  Lucas Meirelles has joined CCIB and the Center for Integrated Solutions for Infectious Diseases (CISID) as an Assistant Professor this year. The Meirelles lab works on lung pathogens and their role in long-term respiratory infections. We are excited for the collaborations and great science to come!  Visit the lab at https://meirelleslab.org/

Congratulations Strecker! for receiving the 2025 NIH Director's New Innovator Award (DP2) to support a project on the discovery and characterization of programmable biological systems. Read more here.

Beyond Correlation: Toward Causal AI in Human Disease. Ashenberg and Xavier argue that while biological foundation models have transformed prediction across scales, their clinical impact has been limited by a reliance on correlations learned from observational data. In this commentary, the authors make the case for hybrid AI approaches that integrate deep learning with mechanistic and causal models, informed by interventional data from genetics and disease-relevant systems. Such models, they suggest, are essential for uncovering true disease mechanisms and enabling more effective therapeutic intervention. Read the article online to learn how causal modeling could shape the next generation of AI-driven biomedical discovery.

Gut Check: How the Microbiome Shapes Inflammation and Depression. A recent collaboration between investigators in CCIB and the HMS Blavatnik Institute revealed that the gut bacterium Morganella morganii may contribute to major depressive disorder by incorporating an environmental contaminant into a molecule that triggers inflammation. This contaminant could serve as a biomarker and supports links between depression and autoimmune processes. More information available in the HMS news story.