Gerald Pao

Dr. Gerald Pao began his scientific career studying protein evolution at UC San Diego, working with Milton Saier, Joseph Kraut, and others. He then pursued epigenetics and viral vector development at the Salk Institute during his PhD and postdoc with Inder Verma. His work on stem cells and regeneration led him to study axolotls with David Gardiner and Tony Hunter. Shifting focus, he trained in nonlinear dynamics and data science at Scripps Institution of Oceanography with George Sugihara. At the Salk Institute, he applied these methods to systems neuroscience and biology. He was also a visiting scientist at Japan’s AIST, optimizing computational methods for Big Data on the ABCI supercomputer. Additionally, he developed cephalopod reflectin proteins for in vivo optical manipulation. Before joining OIST, Dr. Pao led data science and gene therapy initiatives at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.