Pardis Sabeti

Computational biologist, medical geneticist, and evolutionary geneticist

Pardis Sabeti: Computational Geneticist and Infectious Disease Expert

Pardis Sabeti is a Professor at the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, as well as a Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.1 2 3 4 She is a Core Institute Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.2 4

Sabeti's lab focuses on developing new analytical and genomic methods to study evolutionary adaptation and genetic diversity in humans and pathogens.1 Her key research areas include:

Developing algorithms to detect genetic signatures of adaptation in humans and microbes2 3
Examining host and viral genetic factors driving susceptibility to deadly diseases like Ebola and Lassa fever in West Africa2 3
Investigating microbial genomes to aid in intervention strategies for diseases like malaria, cholera, and tuberculosis2 3
Determining the causes of undiagnosed acute febrile illnesses2 3

Sabeti has pioneered technologies for detecting, tracking, and countering deadly pathogens such as Ebola, Zika, Lassa, and SARS-CoV-2.5 Her lab has created powerful algorithms and molecular tools to characterize the human genome and develop transformative gene delivery methods for new biomedicines.4 5

Sabeti completed her undergraduate degree at MIT, graduate work at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and medical degree summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School.2 3 4 She has received numerous honors including being named a TIME Person of the Year in 2014 as one of the Ebola fighters, one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in 2015, and a TIME 100 Impact Award in 2022.4 5 Sabeti is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.4

In addition to her scientific work, Sabeti is the lead singer and co-songwriter of the rock band Thousand Days.2 3 She is a co-founder of SHERLOCK Biosciences and Delve Bio, and serves on the boards of Danaher Corporation and Polaris Genomics.4