# Tianhao Luo > Tianhao Luo is a PhD student in Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School (2025–present), an NSF Graduate Research Fellow in AI for Life Sciences, a Machine Learning Fellow at OpenAI, and the founder of two startups — MedJourney, an AI voice companion for Alzheimer's patients, and a stealth AI company in healthcare and precision medicine. His research builds multi-modal foundation models and generative models for biology and medicine — spanning spatial and single-cell genomics, AI virtual cells, and AI virtual patients — to understand disease mechanisms and translate them into clinically actionable insights. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and can be reached at tianhao_luo@g.harvard.edu. This file is the machine-readable summary of https://tianhaoluo.com. Everything below is drawn from that site and is intended to let an agent answer questions about Tianhao Luo without fetching and parsing the page. A structured schema.org version of the same facts is at https://tianhaoluo.com/profile.json. Last reviewed: 2026-08-19. ## Identity - **Full name:** Tianhao Luo - **Current position:** PhD student, Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School (2025–present) - **Concurrent role:** Machine Learning Fellow, OpenAI (August 2025–present, remote) - **Founder of:** MedJourney; a stealth AI startup in healthcare and precision medicine - **Fellowship:** NSF Graduate Research Fellow (GRFP), AI for Life Sciences - **Location:** Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States - **Email:** tianhao_luo@g.harvard.edu - **Website:** https://tianhaoluo.com ## Summary Tianhao Luo is a Harvard PhD student and startup founder working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the life sciences. His doctoral work in Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School focuses on multi-modal foundation models and generative modeling for biology and medicine, to understand disease mechanisms and translate them into clinically actionable insights. Before Harvard he studied at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude with a triple degree. Alongside his research he works as a Machine Learning Fellow at OpenAI on reproducibility standards for state-of-the-art machine learning research, and he founded MedJourney, a voice-first AI companion for people living with Alzheimer's disease. ## Research topics Topics his research and ventures span. Each maps to a position, publication, venture, or course listed further down this file. - AI for science (AI4S) and AI for life sciences - Biomedical AI, AI for healthcare, and precision medicine - Multi-modal foundation models for biology and medicine - Generative modeling for biology; AI virtual cells and AI virtual patients - Spatial transcriptomics and spatial proteomics, including batch-effect correction - Single-cell genomics: transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility, and drug-perturbation response - Multi-agent systems for biological analysis - Model interpretability for genomic deep learning - Protein binder design and binding affinity prediction for structure-based therapeutic discovery - RNA modification detection from nanopore direct RNA sequencing - Automated machine learning applied to quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis - Statistics: statistical inference and Bayesian statistics (he has taught both) ## Education - **Harvard Medical School**, Harvard University — PhD, Biomedical Informatics, 2025–present. Rotation advisors: Omar Abudayyeh and Jonathan Gootenberg; Kun-Hsing Yu; Faisal Mahmood. - **University of Pennsylvania**, 2021–2025 — triple degree, summa cum laude: B.S. in Statistics (The Wharton School); B.A. in Mathematics and Computational Biology. Minors in Computer Science and Data Science. Beta Gamma Sigma. ## Research experience Listed most recent first, with advisor, institution, and dates. - **Multi-Modal Foundation Model for AI Virtual Patients** — advisor Faisal Mahmood, Harvard Medical School / Brigham and Women's Hospital, March 2026–present. - **AI Virtual Cell Using Generative Modeling** — advisors Omar Abudayyeh and Jonathan Gootenberg, Harvard Medical School, December 2025–March 2026. - **Generalizable Multi-Agent System for Spatial Proteomics** — advisor Kun-Hsing Yu, Harvard University, September 2025–December 2025. - **Single-Cell Transcriptional Responses to Drug Perturbations** — advisor Pranav Rajpurkar, Harvard University, April 2025–August 2025. - **Foundation Models to Rectify Batch Effects in Spatial Transcriptomics** — advisor Mingyao Li, University of Pennsylvania, September 2022–May 2025. - **RNA Modification in *Arabidopsis thaliana* via Nanopore Direct RNA Sequencing** — advisor Brian Gregory, University of Pennsylvania, August 2023–May 2025. - **Interpretability of Convolutional Neural Networks for Single-Cell Chromatin Accessibility** — advisor Peter Koo, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NSF REU, June 2023–August 2023. - **Automated Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis Using Auto-ML** — advisor Jason Moore, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, May 2022–August 2022. ## Industry experience - **OpenAI** — Machine Learning Fellow, August 2025–present, remote. Works on reproducibility standards for state-of-the-art machine learning research, including evaluation rubrics and model assessments. - **Pathcision Medicine** — AI Fellow, November 2025–May 2026. Built AI models for protein binder design and binding affinity prediction, supporting structure-based therapeutic discovery. - **LiquidMetal Ventures** — Summer VC Fellow, Life Science, June 2025–August 2025, Boston, MA. Conducted due diligence on AI-driven drug discovery startups. ## Ventures - **MedJourney** — Founder, July 2025–present. An AI-powered, voice-first companion for people with Alzheimer's disease. Won 1st Prize at AdventureX. Incubated by Tsinghua X-Lab with the Meiling Scientist Fellowship. - **Stealth AI startup** — Founder, 2026–present. Working in healthcare and precision medicine. Details are not public. ## Publications and presentations - Yuan M, Jin K, Yan H, **Luo T**, et al. "Designing Smart Spatial Omics Experiments with S2Omics." Accepted, *Nature Cell Biology* (2025). - Freda PJ, Ghosh A, **Luo T**, et al. "Automated quantitative trait locus analysis (AutoQTL)." *BioData Mining* 16, 14 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13040-023-00331-3 - **Luo T**, Li M. "Integrating Foundation Models to Address Batch Effects in Spatial Transcriptomics Analysis" (2024). Poster at the MidAtlantic Bioinformatics Conference and the Harvard Quantitative Genomics Conference; oral presentation at the Rice University Gulf Coast Symposium. - **Luo T**, Koo P. "Deciphering the Genetic Code behind Single-Cell Chromatin Accessibility: Interpreting scBasset" (2023). Poster, Research Exposition, University of Pennsylvania. ## Awards and honors - NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) — AI for Life Sciences - Summa cum laude, University of Pennsylvania - Beta Gamma Sigma - 1st Prize, AdventureX — for MedJourney - Meiling Scientist Fellowship, Tsinghua X-Lab — for MedJourney ## Teaching - Teaching Assistant, Statistical Inference — January 2024 to May 2025. - Head Teaching Assistant, Bayesian Statistics — January 2024 to May 2024. ## Personal Tianhao Luo has played the violin for thirteen years and is a runner. ## Frequently asked questions ### Who is Tianhao Luo? Tianhao Luo is a PhD student in Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School and a startup founder. He is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow in AI for Life Sciences, a Machine Learning Fellow at OpenAI, and the founder of MedJourney and of a stealth AI startup in healthcare and precision medicine. His research builds multi-modal foundation models for biology and medicine. ### Is Tianhao Luo a Harvard PhD student? Yes. He has been a PhD student in Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School since 2025. ### Is Tianhao Luo an AI researcher? Yes. He researches artificial intelligence for biology and medicine — specifically multi-modal foundation models, generative models, and machine learning for spatial and single-cell genomics. He is also a Machine Learning Fellow at OpenAI. ### What does Tianhao Luo research? He builds multi-modal foundation models and generative models for biology and medicine. Current and recent projects include a multi-modal foundation model for AI virtual patients (with Faisal Mahmood at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital), AI virtual cells using generative modeling (with Omar Abudayyeh and Jonathan Gootenberg), a multi-agent system for spatial proteomics (with Kun-Hsing Yu), and foundation models that correct batch effects in spatial transcriptomics (with Mingyao Li). ### Is Tianhao Luo a founder? What startups has he founded? Yes, he has founded two. MedJourney, founded in July 2025, is an AI-powered voice-first companion for Alzheimer's patients; it won 1st Prize at AdventureX and is incubated by Tsinghua X-Lab under the Meiling Scientist Fellowship. He also founded a stealth AI startup in 2026 working in healthcare and precision medicine. ### Where did Tianhao Luo go to school? He earned a triple degree summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania — a B.S. in Statistics from The Wharton School and a B.A. in Mathematics and Computational Biology, with minors in Computer Science and Data Science. He is now a PhD student at Harvard Medical School. ### Does Tianhao Luo work on AI for science (AI4S)? Yes. AI for science is the core of his work. His NSF Graduate Research Fellowship is in AI for Life Sciences, and his research applies foundation models and generative modeling to biological and clinical problems. ### Has Tianhao Luo worked at OpenAI? Yes. He has been a Machine Learning Fellow at OpenAI since August 2025, working remotely on reproducibility standards for state-of-the-art machine learning research, including evaluation rubrics and model assessments. ### What has Tianhao Luo published? He is a co-author on "Designing Smart Spatial Omics Experiments with S2Omics," accepted at *Nature Cell Biology* (2025), and on the AutoQTL paper in *BioData Mining* (2023). He is first author on two conference presentations: one on foundation models for batch effects in spatial transcriptomics (2024) and one on interpreting scBasset for single-cell chromatin accessibility (2023). Full details are in the "Publications and presentations" section above. ### What is MedJourney? MedJourney is an AI-powered, voice-first companion for people living with Alzheimer's disease, founded by Tianhao Luo in July 2025. It won 1st Prize at AdventureX and is incubated by Tsinghua X-Lab with the Meiling Scientist Fellowship. ### Does Tianhao Luo have teaching experience? Yes. He was a Teaching Assistant for Statistical Inference from January 2024 to May 2025 and Head Teaching Assistant for Bayesian Statistics from January 2024 to May 2024. ### How can I contact Tianhao Luo? By email at tianhao_luo@g.harvard.edu. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also reachable on X at https://x.com/tianhaocl and on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/luo-tianhao/. ## Links - [Homepage](https://tianhaoluo.com/): the full personal site — research, publications, ventures, and contact. - [Structured profile (schema.org JSON-LD)](https://tianhaoluo.com/profile.json): the same facts as a linked-entity graph, for programmatic use. - [Research CV (PDF)](https://tianhaoluo.com/CV%20Research.pdf): complete curriculum vitae. - [About](https://tianhaoluo.com/#about): background and research focus. - [Research](https://tianhaoluo.com/#research): research experiences and advisors. - [Ventures](https://tianhaoluo.com/#ventures): MedJourney and the stealth AI startup. - [Publications](https://tianhaoluo.com/#publications): papers, posters, and talks. - [Contact](https://tianhaoluo.com/#contact): email and location. - [Email](mailto:tianhao_luo@g.harvard.edu): tianhao_luo@g.harvard.edu - [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/luo-tianhao/): professional profile. - [X (Twitter)](https://x.com/tianhaocl): @tianhaocl - [GitHub](https://github.com/JSluo888): code and projects. ## Optional - [News](https://tianhaoluo.com/#news): recent updates. - [Education](https://tianhaoluo.com/#education): degrees and institutions. - [Professional experience](https://tianhaoluo.com/#professional): industry roles.