Alexander Titus

Alexander J. Titus
Titus in 2019
Education
Occupation(s)Biotechnology professional, strategist, entrepreneur

Alexander J. Titus is an American expert in AI, biotechnology, and national security, known for his contributions in these fields.[1]

Early life and education

Titus earned a B.S. in biochemistry and a B.A. in biology from the University of Puget Sound and a Ph.D. in machine learning and bioinformatics from Dartmouth College.[2]

Career

Titus’s career spans academia, government, and the private sector, starting with roles in data science and bioinformatics at Dartmouth College.[3]

Titus served as assistant director of biotechnology at the U.S. Department of Defense[citation needed], leading modernization efforts and helping establish BioMADE. Later, as ARMI’s chief strategy officer, he oversaw pandemic response programs and DoD initiatives.[4][5][6][7]

Titus moved to Google in 2021 as a strategic business executive, leading the cloud healthcare & life sciences strategy for the public sector,[8] where he participated in launching and scaling pandemic response programs across the U.S.[9][10] In 2022, Titus became VP of Strategy & Computational Sciences at Colossal Biosciences,[11] leading teams in data science, AI, and bioinformatics.[12]

Titus's academic appointments include roles as a principal scientist at the USC Information Sciences Institute,[13] Research Faculty at the USC Iovine and Young Academy,[14] External Fellow at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, CA,[15] and Affiliate Faculty at the University of New Hampshire.[16]

Titus has contributed to discussions on national policy regarding biotechnology and AI.[17] He has held positions on various policy and strategic committees, including the COVID-19 High-Performance Computing Consortium[18][19] and the National Science and Technology Council at the White House.[citation needed]

In 2022, he became a congressionally appointed commissioner on the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, focusing on enhancing the U.S. defense and national security use of biotechnology.[20][21][22] The commission is set to release its interim report by the end of 2023 and its final report by the end of 2024.

Throughout his career, Titus has served as an advisor to numerous startups and organizations, leveraging his expertise in computational product development and government strategy.[23][24] He also launched the biotechnology publication Bioeconomy.XYZ at the start of the pandemic.

Personal life

Titus, from Hood River, Oregon, enjoys the outdoors. In 2014, he and his fiancée began a long-distance bike ride from Alaska to Argentina but didn’t complete the journey.[25]

References

  1. ^ Titus, Alexander (2023-12-06). "Written statement of Alexander J. Titus, PhD, Principal Scientist, AI Division, Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Before the U.S. Senate AI Insight Forum "Risk, Alignment, & Guarding Against Doomsday Scenarios"" (PDF). Senator Schumer's Newsroom. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  2. ^ "Alexander Titus – Information Sciences Institute". www.isi.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  3. ^ "Alexander Titus, PhD". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  4. ^ "Dr. Alexander Titus". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2023-11-20.[dead link‍]
  5. ^ Cumbers, John. ""With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" — Meet Alexander Titus The Department Of Defense's Head Of Biotechnology". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  6. ^ Leader, Michael Cousineau New Hampshire Union (2020-06-20). "Online game looks to stoke interest in regenerative medicine". UnionLeader.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  7. ^ "National Technology Roadmap for Pandemic Response and Recovery". ARMI. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  8. ^ "Building cloud into your data strategy delivers higher efficiency". Google Cloud Blog. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  9. ^ "Three Lessons Learned From a Year of COVID-19 Response". Google Cloud Blog. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  10. ^ "Using AI to augment public health services". FedScoop. 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  11. ^ Preston, Quincy; Seeley, David (2022-03-09). "Mammoth Project: Dallas' Colossal Raises $60M to Advance Genetic Engineering and 'De-Extinction' Technologies". Dallas Innovates. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  12. ^ "Biology Meets Computer Science For Next-Gen Biologics Drug Discovery". www.drugdiscoveryonline.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  13. ^ "Alexander Titus – Information Sciences Institute". www.isi.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  14. ^ "Alexander Titus Examines the Power of Artificial Intelligence (and Its Future) || USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy". iovine-young.usc.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  15. ^ "Dr. Alexander Titus Appointed to National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology". www.icsi.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  16. ^ "Alexander Titus". UNH Manchester. 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  17. ^ "Statements From The Eighth Bipartisan Senate Forum On Artificial Intelligence | U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York". www.schumer.senate.gov. 2023-12-06. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  18. ^ "White House Announces New Partnership to Unleash U.S. Supercomputing Resources to Fight COVID-19 – The White House". trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  19. ^ Brase, Jim; Campbell, Nancy; Helland, Barbara; Hoang, Thuc; Parashar, Manish; Rosenfield, Michael; Sexton, James; Towns, John; Mohror, Kathryn; Shalf, John M. (2022). "The COVID-19 High-Performance Computing Consortium". Computing in Science & Engineering. 24 (1): 78–85. Bibcode:2022CSE....24a..78B. doi:10.1109/mcse.2022.3145608. PMC 9014472. PMID 35582691.
  20. ^ "Armed Services Committees Leadership Announces Selections for National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology". Armed Services Republicans. 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  21. ^ "Armed Services Committees Leadership Announces Chair and Vice Chair Selections for National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology". www.armed-services.senate.gov. 2022-12-30. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  22. ^ Cooper, Naomi (2023-01-03). "Legislative Leaders Name Members of National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology". Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  23. ^ "About Aanika Biosciences". www.aanikabio.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  24. ^ "BioP2P Scientific Advisory Board Members". Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  25. ^ Lapierre, Adam (2014-10-15). "Hood River native Alex Titus, and fiancée, pass through town along epic Pan-American ride". Columbia Gorge News. Retrieved 2023-11-20.