University of Pittsburgh Computational and Systems Biology

Spring cleaning isn't just for closets 💻 This month, take 15 minutes to clear out old files in OneDrive and SharePoint. The time you spend helps to reduce Pitt’s carbon footprint.

Congratulations to Associate Professor John Barton, who has received a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the National Institutes of Health! This grant will support Barton's project in developing methods for quantifying natural selection in genetic sequence data collected over time.

Read more about the award: https://tinyurl.com/BartonNIH

Let's unlock curiosity and pursue discovery this summer! Undergraduate students have arrived for the TECBio REU program, a 10-week summer program that provides a challenging and fulfilling graduate-level research experience in computational biology.

Ericka Mochan always knew she wanted to be a teacher.

As she celebrates her 10th year of teaching, the Chair of the Department of Computational and Chemical Sciences at Carlow University reflects on how earning a PhD in computational biology helped her to achieve her dream career.

Read more in our alumni success story: https://tinyurl.com/ErickaMochan

Now launching: new ideas and collaborations! 🚀

The Department of Computational and Systems Biology held its annual retreat at the Kamin Science Center last week. This year's theme focused on space biomedicine to celebrate the recent creation of the Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine.

Read more: https://shorturl.at/nZC95

To survive and succeed during finals week, remember to balance studying with self-care. Here are our tips for acing your tests while staying healthy. Good luck on your exams!

5 tips for success during finals week - Department of Computational and Systems Biology To survive and succeed during finals week, remember to balance studying with self-care. Here are our tips for acing your tests while staying healthy.

PhD candidate Swapnil Keshari was recognized with two leadership awards!

Keshari received the Leadership & Service Award from Graduate and Professional Student Government and was also honored as a Student Sustainability Champion for 2026.

"These awards reflect my commitment to advocate-led change—whether organizing a scientific symposium to bring together graduate researchers or advancing zero-waste initiatives on campus. For me, graduate education has always been about personal development beyond just research, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to pursue that at Pitt," he said.

The Department of Computational and Systems Biology has a new home! CSB will relocate to the top floor of a newly constructed 10-story building on Fifth Avenue and Halket Street. The move has already begun and should conclude by April 22.

This move will unite CSB's offices and labs under one roof, marking an exciting new chapter of collaboration and discovery.

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/CSBFifthHalket

How did SARS-CoV-2 variants acquire dozens of mutations during the pandemic?

New research from the Barton Lab investigates how such divergent, highly mutated variants could arise. Rare chronic infections, which last far longer than typical acute infections, could lead to the emergence of highly mutated variants.

Read the full research in Virus Evolution: https://tinyurl.com/BartonSARS2