Serhat Tetikol

AI for Drug Discovery

Serhat Tetikol, PhD

Associate Director, AI & Bioinformatics · Bristol Myers Squibb

I build and lead the AI/ML and bioinformatics teams that discover better medicines — applying generative models, structure prediction, and large-scale machine learning to antibody and biologics discovery.

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

01

Focus

For most of the last decade I've worked at the front of AI-driven drug discovery — leading multidisciplinary teams that turn large-scale biological data into therapeutic decisions. My work centers on generative models for biologics, protein structure prediction, and multi-parameter optimization of candidates for affinity, developability, and immunogenicity, built on datasets like antibody repertoire sequencing and deep mutational scanning.

I care about the whole path from model to molecule: rigorous ML, scalable pipelines, and tight collaboration between computation and the wet lab. The goal is always the same — find the right candidate faster, and know why it's right.

02

Experience

  1. 2023 – Present

    Associate Director, AI & Bioinformatics

    Bristol Myers Squibb · Cambridge, MA

    Lead a multidisciplinary AI/ML and bioinformatics team advancing biologics drug discovery. We integrate generative models, structure prediction, and multi-parameter optimization with large-scale NGS data to accelerate candidate selection and predict drug-like properties, embedding these methods across the discovery pipeline with wet-lab and research-IT partners.

  2. 2022 – 2023

    Director, Bioinformatics

    Absci · Boston, MA

    Led bioinformaticians and data scientists building AI-driven computational solutions for de novo antibody discovery, optimizing candidates for binding affinity, developability, and immunogenicity.

  3. 2025 – Present

    Mentor

    Nucleate · Cambridge, MA

    Advising early-stage biotech founders on translating AI and computational science into products that reach real patients.

  4. 2017 – 2022

    Product Director, Graph Genomics (GRAF)

    Seven Bridges · Boston, MA

    Grew from R&D to Product Director, building the ML and computational-genomics foundation for precision medicine and population-scale sequencing. Led the international team behind GRAF, a variation-aware NGS platform that set state-of-the-art accuracy for machine-learning-based variant analysis.

03

Recognition & Selected Work

04

Writing

Every week I read and break down a paper shaping AI in drug discovery — what's new, what holds up, and what it means for the field.

Read the blog →
05

Contact

Open to collaboration, advising, and speaking on AI for drug discovery.