PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Benjamin Sanchez-Lengeling

Also known as Benjamín Sánchez Lengeling

Benjamin Sanchez-Lengeling is a researcher who applies machine learning to molecular design, smell prediction and graph neural network interpretation. By 2016, he held a mathematics degree from the University of Guanajuato and was a chemistry PhD student at Harvard; he helped start Clubes de Ciencia in Guanajuato in 2014. He coauthored ORGANIC, which combined adversarial molecule generation with reinforcement learning, and contributed to work on graph neural networks for smell prediction and interpretation. After five years as a research scientist at Google DeepMind/Brain, he joined the University of Toronto in 2025 and received a $750,000 Faculty Accelerator award. As of October 2026, he is an assistant professor in chemical engineering and applied chemistry and leads the Chemical Cognition Lab.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 2014

    Starting Clubes de Ciencia

    At the initiative of a group of scientists that includes Sánchez-Lengeling, Clubes de Ciencia begins in Guanajuato in 2014.

  2. By 2016

    A Guanajuato mathematics degree

    By 2016, he holds a mathematics degree from the University of Guanajuato and studies for a chemistry doctorate at Harvard.

  3. 2017

    ORGANIC for molecular design

    In 2017, he coauthors ORGANIC, a molecular generator that combines generative adversarial networks with reinforcement learning to favor molecules with selected properties.

  4. 2019

    Graph neural networks predict smell

    In 2019, he contributes to Google Brain's Machine Learning for Scent, which uses graph neural networks to predict odor descriptors for molecules and reports better results than earlier methods.

  5. 2020

    Evaluating graph attribution

    He coauthors a 2020 NeurIPS paper that evaluates attribution methods for graph neural networks across accuracy, stability, faithfulness and consistency.

  6. 2025

    Joining chemical engineering at Toronto

    In 2025, he joins the University of Toronto's Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry after five years as a research scientist at Google DeepMind/Brain.

  7. 2025

    A Faculty Accelerator award

    In 2025, he receives a Faculty Accelerator award from the Acceleration Consortium, valued at $750,000. He says it will help him hire students and acquire computing resources to build a rigorous research agenda.

  8. As of October 2026

    Leading the Chemical Cognition Lab

    As of October 2026, he is an assistant professor in the University of Toronto's Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry and leads the Chemical Cognition Lab. His work uses machine learning, data-driven methods and computational tools for chemical problems. The lab designs computer-robotic systems to support engineering and chemical problem solving.

Career

  1. Since 2025University of TorontoAssistant professor
  2. Until 2025GoogleResearch scientist
  3. From 2014Clubes de CienciaCo-founder

Education

  1. University of GuanajuatoMathematics degree
  2. Harvard UniversityPhD

From the biography.

  1. Of 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google, 446 work there nowIncludes Benjamin Sanchez-Lengeling. Our estimates of where the 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google and Google DeepMind work now: 446 at Google and 452 across 278 other organizations.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Toronto. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Toronto. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  4. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes University of Toronto. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Benjamin Sanchez-Lengeling yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. La UG se consolida como promotora del talento científico ugto.mx. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Optimizing distributions over molecular space. An Objective-Reinforced Generative Adversarial Network for Inverse-design Chemistry (ORGANIC) cambridge.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Learning to Smell: Using Deep Learning to Predict the Olfactory Properties of Molecules research.google. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Evaluating Attribution for Graph Neural Networks research.google. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Benjamin Sanchez-Lengeling - Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence vectorinstitute.ai. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Acceleration Consortium announces its first two faculty Accelerator awards recipients, each valued at $750,000 acceleration.utoronto.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Home benmsanchez.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Chemical Cognition Lab chemcognition.org. Checked 21 October 2026.