Samantha N. Piekos, PhD
Assistant Professor of Informatics and Genetics
Samantha N. Piekos, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Informatics and Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. She joined the faculty in 2025 after postdoctoral training in Biomedical Informatics at the Institute for Systems Biology and earning her Ph.D. in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine from Stanford University. Dr. Piekos is a long-time collaborator of Google Data Commons and leads development of the Biomedical Data Commons platform.
Her research leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to quantify the interplay between biology, environment, and lifestyle, advancing precision medicine through more targeted and affordable treatments. The Piekos Lab uses a systems biology approach to study pregnancy as a model of biological transition, focusing on how physiological processes are disrupted in disease. Pregnancy’s defined timeline and profound transformations provide a unique opportunity to study dynamic changes that are difficult to capture in aging or other conditions.
The lab integrates deep phenotyping data—including longitudinal multiomics, wearable data, environmental exposures, social determinants of health, and electronic medical records—to map molecular networks using AI. Methods include machine learning (ML), network analysis, large language models (LLMs), and knowledge graphs. After establishing a healthy baseline, the lab identifies molecular network disruptions linked to obstetric syndromes by analyzing cross-sectional and longitudinal changes. The goal is to detect the earliest deviations from a healthy trajectory and enable precise, patient-specific interventions early in disease. Dr. Piekos also investigates how environmental exposures, such as wildfire smoke and extreme heat, impact pregnancy outcomes at the population level.
Contact
402 Blockley Hall
423 Guardian Drive
Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021