Lawrence Hunter

Also known as Larry Hunter, Lawrence E. Hunter

Lawrence Hunter is a computational biologist whose career joins artificial intelligence and molecular biology, and he is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Chicago. Trained at Yale under Roger Schank, he finished a PhD in 1989 that used case-based reasoning to diagnose lung cancer from histological images. At the National Library of Medicine, his database of AI researchers interested in molecular biology laid the groundwork for the first Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology conference in July 1993, and in 1997 he became the first president of the International Society for Computational Biology. He later directed the Computational Bioscience Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, coauthored the KaBOB biomedical knowledge base in 2015, and moved to Chicago in 2024. His honours include AAAI's Engelmore Memorial Lecture Award in 2003 and election as an ISCB Fellow in 2010.

Now at: University of Chicago
Born: 1961
Badges: Founder
Bridge
Loyal

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

1989

A Yale PhD under Schank

He earns a PhD in computer science at Yale in 1989 under Roger Schank. His thesis, Knowledge Acquisition Planning: Gaining Expertise Through Experience, uses case-based reasoning to diagnose lung cancer from histological images.
1989–1993

Staff scientist at the NLM

In March 1989, he joins NIH's National Library of Medicine as one of its first computer scientists hired as staff scientists. There he keeps a database of AI researchers interested in molecular biology, which lays the groundwork for the first Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) conference, held in July 1993 at NLM's Lister Hill Center.
1997–2000

First president of ISCB

Early ISMB organizers set up the International Society for Computational Biology, incorporated in early 1997, and elect him its first president; he serves four one-year terms before the board elects Russ Altman in 2000. From 1997 to 2003, he also cofounds and sits on the board of Molecular Mining Corporation.
2000–2008

Computational bioscience in Colorado

After NIH posts at the National Library of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute, he joins the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine as an associate professor in 2000 and becomes a professor in 2008. He founds and directs its Computational Bioscience Program and is also a professor of computer science at the University of Colorado Boulder.
2003

The Engelmore lecture award

In 2003, while at the University of Colorado, he receives AAAI's Robert S. Engelmore Memorial Lecture Award, an annual keynote lecture presented at the IAAI conference.
2010–2015

ISCB fellowship and service award

ISCB names him to its 2010 class of Fellows, recognized at the ISMB 2010 conference in Boston. In 2015, he becomes the first winner of the Outstanding Contributions to ISCB Award for his role in founding the society.
2015

The KaBOB knowledge base

In 2015, with Kevin Livingston, Michael Bada and William Baumgartner of the Computational Bioscience Program, he publishes KaBOB, the Knowledge Base Of Biomedicine. The system uses forward-chaining rules and Open Biomedical Ontologies to integrate data from 18 biomedical databases.
Since 2024

Professor of Pediatrics at Chicago

He moves to the University of Chicago in 2024, where he is a Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine. Over his career, he publishes more than 200 scientific papers and holds two patents.