The Single-Cell Genomics GRS provides a unique forum for young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to present their work, discuss new methods, cutting edge ideas, and pre-published data, as well as to build collaborative relationships with their peers. Experienced mentors and trainee moderators will facilitate active participation in scientific discussion to allow all attendees to be engaged participants rather than spectators.
The rapid evolution of spatial omics technologies has opened new frontiers in biology by enabling the mapping of molecular and cellular features in situ. These techniques now generate massive, high-dimensional datasets capturing gene expression, protein abundance, chromatin states, and cellular interactions across tissue space and time. Unlocking their full potential requires equally sophisticated computational approaches, and recent breakthroughs in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) offer powerful tools to address these new opportunities and challenges.
Various methods in AI/ML, including but not limited to deep learning, graph-based modeling, probabilistic inference, and generative frameworks, are increasingly being applied to spatial omics data to annotate cell types, detect tissue microenvironments, model cellular dynamics, and integrate multimodal information. At the same time, spatial biology poses unique and critical opportunity and challenges to AI/ML methods, including issues in data sparsity, resolution variance, 3D context, interpretability, and biological validation.
The 2026 Gordon Research Seminar on Spatial Omics and AI/ML brings together doctoral and postdoctoral researchers at the forefront of computational biology, AI, and tissue-level systems biology. This meeting will take a deep dive into the state-of-the-art advances in AI/ML applications for spatially resolved omics to uncover biological insights at single-cell and subcellular resolution, while also considering foundational questions in model development and data ethics. By convening junior investigators across disciplines, from algorithm design to experimental biology, we aim to foster a knowledge exchange and new collaborations, inspire innovation, and build a community dedicated to advancing the science of spatial intelligence in biology and medicine.
Together, we will explore how AI/ML can be leveraged as an engine of hypothesis generation, discovery, and ultimately, therapeutic translation. This GRS seeks to train and empower the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists to shape the future of spatial omics and AI/ML in life science.
Application Instructions
The seminar will feature approximately 10 talks and 2 poster sessions. All attendees are expected to actively participate in the GRS, either by giving an oral presentation or presenting a poster. Therefore, all applications must include an abstract.
The seminar chair will select speakers from abstracts submitted by February 1, 2026. Those applicants who are not chosen for talks and those who apply after the deadline to be considered for an oral presentation will be expected to present a poster. In order to participate, you must submit an application by the date indicated in the Application Information section above.
Program Format
Gordon Research Seminars are 2-day meetings which take place on the Saturday and Sunday just prior to the start of the associated GRC. The GRS opens with a 1-hour introductory session on Saturday afternoon, followed by a poster session, dinner and a 2-hour session in the evening. Sunday morning begins with breakfast and is followed by another 2-hour session, a second poster session, and lunch. A final 1-hour session takes place just after lunch, and the associated GRC begins later that evening.
