PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Gregory Schwartz

Gregory Schwartz is a computational cancer biologist who builds machine-learning tools to study how tumors change and how cancer cells communicate. After earning a BA in biology and mathematics at Franklin & Marshall College in 2011 and a PhD at Drexel University in 2016 studying immune receptor diversity, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2021 on cancer heterogeneity and drug response. In March 2020, he coauthored TooManyCells to visualize single-cell clades, and in 2021 he joined the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto to establish his own lab, receiving a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in bioinformatics and computational biology in 2022. In 2025, his team developed CellNEST, an AI tool published in Nature Methods in June 2025 that uses attention mechanisms and machine learning to identify cell-to-cell communication patterns and relay networks in cancer. As of October 2026, he is a Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, and a Faculty Affiliate at the Vector Institute.

Works
3

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 2011

    Biology and mathematics at Franklin & Marshall

    He earns a BA double majoring in biology and mathematics from Franklin & Marshall College in 2011.

  2. 2011–2016

    Biomedical engineering doctorate at Drexel

    From 2011 to 2016, he completes a PhD in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University, where he studies the diversity and selection of the immune receptor repertoire. During his doctoral research, he begins developing computational tools to quantify the diversity of biological systems.

  3. 2016–2021

    Postdoctoral cancer research at Penn

    From 2016 to 2021, he works as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, developing computational methods for cancer heterogeneity, selective pressure, and drug response. At Penn, he develops four computational tools for cancer cells, including HeatITup to detect internal tandem duplication mutations.

  4. March 2020

    TooManyCells and single-cell clades

    In March 2020, he coauthors TooManyCells in Nature Methods, a paper on identifying and visualizing relationships among single-cell clades. The method is used to show how T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia develops resistance to therapy.

  5. 2021

    Starting a lab at Princess Margaret

    After completing his postdoctoral work in the Faryabi lab at the University of Pennsylvania in 2021, he joins the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto as a faculty member to establish his own lab. There he analyzes different cancer-cell populations within the same tumour.

  6. 2022

    A Canada Research Chair

    In 2022, he receives a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in bioinformatics and computational biology through the University of Toronto's Department of Medical Biophysics.

  7. 2025

    CellNEST maps cell communication

    In 2025, he leads the Princess Margaret team that develops Cell Neural Networks on Spatial Transcriptomics (CellNEST), an AI tool published in Nature Methods in June 2025 that uses machine learning and attention mechanisms to identify cell-to-cell communication patterns and relay networks via ligands and receptors. The method identifies aggressive cancer communication in lung and colorectal tumours and uncovers new communication patterns in pancreatic cancer.

  8. As of October 2026

    Scientist and assistant professor

    As of October 2026, he is a Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, and a Faculty Affiliate at the Vector Institute. His current research in bioinformatics and computational biology develops computational methods to understand cellular diversity and evolution in cancer and improve diagnosis and treatment.

Career

  1. NowUniversity of TorontoTier 2 Canada Research Chair in bioinformatics and computational biology
  2. NowUniversity Health NetworkScientist
  3. NowVector InstituteFaculty Affiliate
  4. 2016–2021Perelman School of Medicine at the University of PennsylvaniaPostdoctoral researcher

Education

  1. 2016Drexel UniversityPhD
  2. 2011Franklin & Marshall CollegeBA

From the biography.

  1. 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.
  2. Of 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google, 446 work there nowIncludes Vector Institute. 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.
  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 Gregory Schwartz yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Gregory Schwartz | Medical Biophysics medbio.utoronto.ca. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Gregory Schwartz | UHN Research uhnresearch.ca. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. Meet Dr. Schwartz @PMResearch uhnresearch.ca. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. Gregory Schwartz (Faryabi lab) to start lab at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto hosting.med.upenn.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. MBP Researchers Awarded Canada Research Chairs | Medical Biophysics medbio.utoronto.ca. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Pinpointing chatty cells uhn.ca. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. Pinpointing Chatty Cells | UHN Research uhnresearch.ca. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. Gregory Schwartz - Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence vectorinstitute.ai. Checked 22 October 2026.