Collin Spencer
Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical AI @ Mount Sinai
New York, New York
Overview
Work Experience
Doctoral Candidate
2020 - Current
THESIS: Panos Roussos Lab, Fabian Theis Lab Thesis research investigates cellular state and gene regulatory network dynamics in Alzheimer's Disease and aging for therapeutic target discovery. ROTATION: Towfique Raj Lab Developed pipeline for aligning and quantifying microglia short-read RNA-seq to long-read PacBio Isoseq data ROTATION: Panos Roussos Lab Developed Watermelon, a deep learning method for imputing missing ChIP-seq assay data in Roadmap Epigenomics and learning functional genomic relations in health and disease
Co-Founder & Board Member
2022
OUTbio Greater New York is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks to empower and advance the LGBTQ+ community and its allies in the life sciences, biotechnology and affiliated industries, and to promote LGBTQ+ health and wellness.
TechBio Venture Capital Fellow
2023 - 2024
Sourced and advised pre-seed to Series A platform investment opportunities at the intersection of life sciences, computation, and engineering.
ARTIS Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in category defining companies in TechBio, the intersection of technology and biology.
Schmidt Futures Research Fellow: Biotechnology Startup Operations
2022 - 2024
Developed a comprehensive playbook aimed at helping academic founders transition from lab-based research to launching successful biotech startups. Conducted extensive interviews with biotech founders, operators, and venture capitalists to synthesize actionable insights on key operational strategies, including business models, team-building, and scaling operations.
Co-Founder & Director of Partnerships, Nucleate NYC
2021 - 2024
Building the biotech ecosystem in NYC through collaborative partnerships and event planning with leading VCs, incubators, investors, law firms, and founders.
a collaborative venture program enabling the formation of biotechnology companies addressing climate & sustainability challenges
DAAD Scholar | Computational Biology
2023 - 2024
Research Fellow in the Fabian Theis lab, Institute for Computational Biology at Helmholtz Munich / TUM. Investigated cellular states and gene regulatory architecture of Alzheimer's disease progression with multiple instance learning and graph optimal transport.
Visiting Research Fellow | Fabian Theis Lab
2023 - 2023
Developing computational methods for single-cell trajectory inference of Alzheimer’s Disease progression, modeling the underlying molecular dynamics contributing to the emergence of clinical pathologies
Frequency Bio Fellow | Cohort 7
2023 - 2023
Pillar VC invests in seed-stage companies, supporting unstoppable founders with capital, connections, coaching, and peer support.
Founder and Chair, Mental Health Joint Allocations Committee
2018 - 2020
After the shooting and death of a student experiencing first-episode psychosis, I fundraised, developed the grant structure, and oversaw the allocation of a $1,000,000 fund for mental health research, infrastructure, and services.
Undergraduate Researcher
2018 - 2020
Greg Gibson Lab -Developed novel machine learning clustering technique for utilizing dropouts in single-cell transcriptomics as a signal for tissue heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorder -Investigated statistical mental health disparities among vulnerable populations at Georgia Tech and established $300,000 in funding to support programming and resources for vulnerable populations (e.g. LGBTQ+ and BIPOC)
Founder & Consortia Chair
2018 - 2020
Intercollegiate Mental Health Conference (http://mentalhealthconference.gatech.edu/) -Organized the Intercollegiate Mental Health Conference, the first national student-run mental health conference in the United States -Developed a taxonomy and comparative analysis of college mental health systems -Published a proceedings manual on the historical development, enactment, and efficacy of over 90 policies in college mental health -Translated research into $700,000 in grant funding for mental health infrastructure, resources, and research
Health Policy Specialist
2019 - 2019
Developed and legislated Georgia behavioral health Medicaid policy, enabling wraparound mental health services for children and young adults with severe autism.
Software Engineer
2017 - 2017
Aerosol Sciences Division of Aberdeen Proving Grounds Jana Kesavan Lab Conducted research for chemical and biological warfare defense.
Oxford Construction of Pennsylvania is specializing in building construction