Dear DBEI Community,
We are pleased to announce that Li Shen, PhD, FAIMBE, FACMI, FAMIA, has agreed to serve as Interim Director of the Division of Informatics, effective November 1.
Dr. Shen succeeds Dr. Marylyn Ritchie, who has led the Division with distinction since April 2023. We extend our deep appreciation to Dr. Ritchie for her service and leadership during this period of growth and innovation.
Shen is no stranger to this role, having previously served as Interim Director in 2021. We thank him again for stepping forward to guide the Division during this important transition. As Interim Director, he will rejoin the senior leadership team of the DBEI, working closely with colleagues to advance our mission in education, research, and service to Penn and beyond.
Dr. Shen, Professor of Informatics, is a pioneer in bioinformatics strategies for brain-wide genome-wide association studies to advance Alzheimer’s disease research. His research spans artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), biomedical and health informatics, NLP/LLMs, medical image computing, network science, and multi-omics and systems biology, with applications across complex disorders. His primary focus is on developing and applying advanced AI/ML/Informatics methods to analyze large-scale biobank and health datasets, aiming to improve understanding, early detection, treatment, prevention, and overall healthcare of complex disorders. He also explores emerging frontiers such as generative AI, agentic AI, and trustworthy multimodal AI to push the boundaries of biomedical research.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Shen back to this leadership role and in supporting him as he leads the Division of Informatics forward.