PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Pietro Liò

Also known as Pietro Lio

Pietro Liò is a computational biologist at the University of Cambridge who builds graph neural networks and other AI models for precision medicine. He worked as a research associate at Southampton from 1995 and in Cambridge's genetics and zoology departments from 1998, then became a Cambridge lecturer in bioinformatics algorithms in 2003 and a Reader in 2013. In 2017, he coauthored Graph Attention Networks with Petar Veličković, Yoshua Bengio and others, and in 2018 he became Professor of Computational Biology. In 2020, Academia Europaea elected him and he coauthored a paper on a graph-based digital twin of patients. He is Full Professor of Computational Biology in Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology, with PhDs from the Universities of Florence and Pavia.

Now at
Clare Hall, University of Cambridge and Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
Born
1962
Works
61
Badges

Years link to their sources. 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. 1995–2001

    Research posts in Southampton and Cambridge

    From 1995 to 1997, he is a research associate at the University of Southampton. A research associateship in Cambridge's Department of Genetics and Department of Zoology follows from 1998 to 2001, in Nick Goldman's group, on mathematical modelling of sequence evolution and protein structure prediction.

  2. 2003–2007

    Lecturer at the Computer Laboratory

    He is Lecturer in Bioinformatics Algorithms at Cambridge's Computer Laboratory from 2003 to 2007. In 2004, Fitzwilliam College appoints him Director of Studies in Computer Science and elects him into a Fellowship.

  3. 2013–2018

    Reader in computational biology

    He is Reader in Computational Biology in Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology from 2013 to 2018. A Lagrange Fellowship covers 2013 to 2015.

  4. 2017–2018

    Graph Attention Networks

    In October 2017, he is one of six authors of Graph Attention Networks, posted to arXiv with Petar Veličković, Guillem Cucurull, Arantxa Casanova, Adriana Romero and Yoshua Bengio for ICLR 2018. The paper introduces GATs, graph neural networks whose nodes attend over their neighbours' features through masked self-attentional layers, and reports state-of-the-art or matching results on the Cora, Citeseer and Pubmed citation datasets and a protein-protein interaction dataset.

  5. 2018

    Professorship and a BITS Award

    In 2018, he becomes Professor of Computational Biology in Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology. The Bioinformatics Italian Society gives him a BITS Award in 2018.

  6. 2020

    Election to Academia Europaea

    Academia Europaea elects him a member in its Informatics section in 2020.

  7. September 2020

    A graph-based patient digital twin

    In September 2020, he coauthors a paper with Pietro Barbiero and Ramon Viñas Torné that forecasts clinical endpoints such as blood pressure with a graph neural network and tests a generative adversarial network for transcriptomic integration. The authors present it as a step towards a healthcare digital twin.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor of Computational Biology

    As of October 2026, he is Full Professor of Computational Biology in Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology, the post he has held since 2018, where he builds AI and computational biology models for precision medicine, including graph neural networks that integrate multi-scale, multi-omics and multi-physics data. He belongs to the Artificial Intelligence Group and the Cambridge Centre for AI in Medicine, is a Professorial Fellow and Council Member of Clare Hall, and is an ELLIS Fellow in the Cambridge unit. His degrees are an MA from Cambridge and PhDs from the University of Florence (complex systems and non-linear dynamics) and the University of Pavia (theoretical genetics).

Career

  1. Since 1998University of CambridgeResearch Associate, Lecturer in Bioinformatics Algorithms
  2. NowClare Hall, University of CambridgeProfessorial Fellow and Council Member
  3. From 2004Fitzwilliam College, University of CambridgeDirector of Studies in Computer Science and Fellow
  4. 1995–1997University of SouthamptonResearch Associate

Education

  1. University of CambridgeMA
  2. University of FlorencePhD
  3. University of PaviaPhD

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Cambridge. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Cambridge. 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. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes University of Cambridge. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.
  4. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes University of Cambridge. 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 named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Pietro Liò yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Academy of Europe: Lio Pietro ae-info.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Reporter 18/2/04: Fitzwilliam College admin.cam.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. [1710.10903] Graph Attention Networks arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. [2009.08299] Graph representation forecasting of patient's medical conditions: towards a digital twin arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Pietro Liò | ai@cam ai.cam.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Pietro Liò - CHIA chia.cam.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Pietro Liò - Clare Hall clarehall.cam.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Pietro Liò | European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems ellis.eu. Checked 20 October 2026.