Bruce Wittmann

About

Bruce Wittmann is a Senior Applied Scientist in the Office of the Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft, where he works at the intersection of machine learning and the sciences to advance our ability to understand and engineer the natural world, particularly biology. Recently, his broader efforts have focused on the development of tools, methods, databases, and collaborations that further accessibility, effective use, and security of the burgeoning suite of applications of artificial intelligence for protein engineering. Aside from leading research projects and contributing to Microsoft’s stack of scientific software, these endeavors have also seen him co-organize and lead an international collaborative (opens in new tab) on emerging technology at the interface of AI and biology, serve as a Microsoft representative for the U.S. AI-Safety Institute Consortium (opens in new tab), and act as a chem/bio subject matter expert for Microsoft’s internal AI red-teaming efforts (opens in new tab).

Prior to joining Microsoft, Bruce completed his doctorate in bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology under the direction of Professor Frances Arnold. As a founding member and lead of the machine learning subgroup of Prof. Arnold’s laboratory, his dissertation (opens in new tab) focused on the development of practical tools and strategies—both computational and wet lab-based—for the machine learning-assisted engineering of proteins. This work leveraged his earlier experiences in molecular biology, software development, and operations obtained while working at the South San Francisco-based company “Intrexon Corp.”, where he created wet-lab, automation, and programmatic protocols that enabled the development of a high throughput DNA construction pipeline.

Bruce has long believed that synthetic biology holds the potential to solve some of humanity’s most pressing challenges, and that artificial intelligence can unlock that potential. Whether it be his early-career efforts to identify the metabolic pathways responsible for alternate, potentially agricultural-yield-enhancing chlorophylls (opens in new tab), or his current efforts to galvanize domestic and international investment and collaboration (opens in new tab) at the AI and biology interface, Bruce is committed to advancing our ability to engineer biology to address critical global issues and drive innovation.