Dr. Andreas Pfenning

Associate Professor

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Biography

Andreas Pfenning is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Computational Biology at Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the Neuroscience Institute. He completed a joint postdoctoral position at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Harvard Medical School's Genetics Department. He earned his Ph.D. in Computational Biology from Duke University and his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. Professor Pfenning has received notable accolades including a Sloan Foundation research fellowship and an NSF Career Award. He leads the comparative genomics working group for the Vertebrate Genome Project, focusing on genome evolution and its implications for human health. His research encompasses the impact of genetic and epigenetic variation on human brain disorders and complex behaviors, addressing challenges like brain cell type heterogeneity. The Pfenning laboratory employs AI and genomic technologies to predict genetic differences and their influence on neural cell types. His work has been published in prestigious journals such as Cell, Nature, and Science. Professor Pfenning's innovative use of AI in genomics has been adopted globally, with his laboratory's dataset contributing to advancements in understanding brain disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's disease.

Research Interests

Awards

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NSF Career Award

Requirements for Carnegie Mellon University

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3.5
GRE General
Verbal
Required:158
Quantitative
Required:149
Analytical Writing
Required:4
Overall
Required:4
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Psychology or related field Research experience/publications
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Transcripts
  • GRE scores (optional but reported in profile)
  • English Proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo)
Specialization Notes

Admission is extremely competitive with no strict GPA cut-offs; holistic review is used.