About

Scientific work across disciplines

I am a computational biologist at ETH Zürich, working between biosystems engineering and computer science. My work combines method development, biological application and interdisciplinary project leadership.

Profile

Tanmay Tanna

I trained in biotechnology and molecular health sciences before moving fully into computational biology. That background still shapes how I work: the modelling begins with the measurement process, the experimental constraints and the biological question.

At ETH Zürich, I have led computational analysis across CRISPR-based molecular recording, single-cell perturbation screens, metabolomics, metagenomics and multimodal cancer profiling. I work across the Platt Lab and the Rätsch Lab, and I am an ETH AI Center associated researcher. I have also co-led and contributed to proposal writing, supervised students and worked with collaborators across experimental, clinical and computational disciplines.

Experience

Positions & education

  1. Feb 2026–present

    Senior Researcher (Oberassistent)

    ETH Zürich · D-BSSE and Department of Computer Science

    Leads computational and machine-learning work for genome-scale in vivo Perturb-seq across the mouse cortex, other organs and microglia, coordinating analysis and mentoring MSc and PhD researchers.

  2. Jun 2024–Feb 2026

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    ETH Zürich · groups of Randall J. Platt and Gunnar Rätsch

    Established computational foundations for CZI/Biohub-supported in vivo genome-scale perturbation screening and co-led perturbation-aware representation-learning work presented at NeurIPS AI4D3.

  3. 2020–2024

    PhD in Computational Biology

    ETH Zürich · D-BSSE and Department of Computer Science

    Research on transcriptional recording, cancer multi-omics and computational methods for emerging cellular profiling technologies.

  4. Jan 2019–Jan 2020

    Research Associate & Co-founder · Record Health (pre-incorporation)

    ETH Zürich · Laboratory for Biological Engineering

    Advanced Record-seq while developing the scientific and commercial foundations for Record Health through entrepreneurship programmes, ecosystem engagement, and technical and regulatory assessment.

  5. 2016–2018

    MSc in Biology (Molecular Health Sciences)

    ETH Zürich · Inlaks Scholar

    Master’s research on Record-seq analysis and workflow development, supported by the Inlaks Scholarship for academically gifted students at top global universities.

  6. 2011–2015

    BTech in Biotechnology

    National Institute of Technology Warangal

    Merit scholar. Completed a fully funded Erasmus Mundus exchange at Warsaw University of Life Sciences and a fully funded research internship at the University of Tokyo.

Funding

Selected programmes

  • Chan Zuckerberg Initiative / BiohubIn vivo genome-scale perturbation screening · Computational lead; co-led proposal writing
  • European Research CouncilRecord-seq · Computational lead; contributed to proposal writing
  • Botnar FoundationRecord-seq · Computational lead; contributed to proposal writing
  • Swiss Cancer LeagueMetagenomics and metabolomics in cancer · Computational lead; co-led proposal writing

Recognition

Awards & scholarships

  • Academic Judge and Leader of TomorrowSt. Gallen Symposium · 2022–2025
  • Gastroenterology PrizeSwiss Society of Gastroenterology · 2023
  • Best Publication AwardDepartment for BioMedical Research · 2023
  • Inlaks ScholarshipFor academically gifted students pursuing study at top global universities · 2016–2018

Expertise

Methods & leadership

Machine learning

Representation learning, probabilistic models, differential testing, statistical learning, PyTorch and JAX

Quantitative biology

Single-cell genomics, CRISPR screens, transcriptional recording, metabolomics and metagenomics

Scientific computing

Python, R, Bash, basic Rust, Bioconductor, HPC / SLURM, Git, Conda, Docker and reproducible workflows

Scientific leadership

Project design, interdisciplinary collaboration, grant development, supervision and teaching

Product & web

React, Next.js, Vercel, Supabase, scientific visualisation, Illustrator and LaTeX

Web & product

Selected web-development work

Independent product work and technical contributions outside computational biology, spanning public-facing websites and student entrepreneurship.

Additional experience

Teaching, supervision & service

  • Research supervisionSupervised seven MSc and two BSc students.
  • TeachingTeaching assistant for Genome Engineering and Topics in Medical Machine Learning.
  • Pro-bono strategy consultingConsultant with the ETH Graduate Consulting Club.

Background

Languages & qualifications

  • LanguagesEnglish, Hindi and Gujarati (native); German (B1 working proficiency).
  • CFA ProgrammeCFA Level I passed (2024).