Robert Grossman

2025 Sigma Xi Fellow

For his groundbreaking contributions to data science, computational biomedicine, and translational research, and for his leadership in developing open data platforms and collaborative infrastructures that advance scientific discovery and innovation across medicine and the life sciences.

Biography

Robert L. Grossman is the Frederick H. Rawson Professor in Medicine and Computer Science and the Jim and Karen Frank Director of the Center for Translational Data Science at the University of Chicago. He has pioneered developing and operating novel data platforms that support open, scalable, and reproducible scientific, biomedical, and environmental research. He is a fellow of the AAAS (2013) and a Fellow of the ACM (2016).

He is the principal investigator for the National Cancer Institute Genomic Data Commons (GDC), one of the largest collections of harmonized cancer genomics data in the world.  He has also built data commons and data meshes to support research in other areas, including liquid biopsies, Veterans’ health, infectious diseases, heart and lung diseases, and the environment.  
He is the chair of the Open Commons Consortium, a nonprofit that develops and operates data commons and data meshes to support research in science, medicine and healthcare.  

He has served on several US Government advisory boards, including as a member of the NOAA Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) from 2017-2024; a member of the Frederick National Laboratory Advisory Committee (FNLAC) from 2014-2021; and a Member of the NASA Advisory Committee (NAC) Information Technology Infrastructure Committee from 2009-2015.