Hi, I'm Jackie

Jacqueline Valeri

Data Scientist at Moderna

I am currently a Data Scientist at Moderna in the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence team. I recently received my PhD in Biological Engineering from the lab of Jim Collins at MIT. In 2018, I graduated with my undergraduate and masters degree in BE from the University of Pennsylvania. I am energized by opportunities to mentor, promote inclusive environments, and do science outreach.

ML / AI
Syn Bio
Antibiotics
AutoML
Systems Bio
Mentoring

Experiences

Data Scientist
Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Team

August 2023 - Present, Moderna

  • Working on making science faster, easier, and more rigorous for a diverse range of biological questions. The ultimate goal is to get medicines to patients faster.
PhD Student
Lab of Jim Collins

September 2018 - August 2023, MIT

  • Developed machine learning tools for synthetic biology components such as toehold switches. Built on this work to improve accessibility of machine learning by constructing ‘automated’ tools for synthetic and systems biologists with limited programming experience.
  • Used computational tools to assist the discovery and design of new antibiotics. Specifically, worked on antibiotics relevant for metabolically dormant bacteria and serious pathogens for which we urgently need new drugs.
  • MIT-Takeda Fellow in Artificial Intelligence and Health 2021 - 2022
  • Siebel Scholar, Class of 2023
PhD Student
Biological Engineering Dept.

September 2018 - August 2023, MIT

GPA 5.00/5.00

  • 2020 - 2023 BE Data Lab Fellow
  • 2020 - 2022 Co-President of MITxHarvard Women in Artificial Intelligence
  • 2018 - 2023 Student Liaison for the Institute Discriminiation and Harassment Response (IDHR) Office; Previously, Chair of Messaging and Partnerships Subcommittee of IDHR-Student Advisory Committee
  • 2020 - 2023 Representative for Committe on Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response
  • Spring 2021 Teaching Assistant for Deep Learning in the Life Sciences
  • 2018 - 2023 BE Admissions Assistance Program (BEAAP) Mentor
Bachelor's and Master's Student
Biological Engineering Dept.

September 2014 - May 2018, University of Pennysylvania

GPA 4.00/4.00 (M.S.E.) and 3.99/4.00 (B.S.E.)

  • Penn Band Clarinet Section Leader
  • Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society Secretary
  • Co-Director of Penn Innoworks Science Camp
  • Award, Honorable Mention for Penn Engineering Master’s Academic Award Spring 2018
  • Award, Co-recipient of 2018 Wolf-Hallac Award for top female senior in Penn Engineering School
  • Award, Selected for Penn 10 2018, the “30 Under 30” equivalent for 10 graduating seniors
Research Assistant
Lab of Jennifer Phillips-Cremins

January 2016 - July 2018, University of Pennsylvania

  • Developed a tool to modulate gene expression in embryonic stem cells using blue light
  • Co-planned and executed a labwide “Molecular Biology Bootcamp” as a 1 week intensive course
  • Award, Class of 1971 Robert J. Holtz Award Summer 2017 from Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships.
  • Award, Abraham Noordegraaf Undergraduate Research Fellow Summer 2017
  • Award, Silver Medal for Rachleff Scholar Poster Presentation Summer 2016

Projects

Discovery of antibiotics active against stationary-phase bacteria
Cell Chemical Biology, 2023

Experimental and computational screening techniques to discover and characterize small molecules active against "metabolically dormant" bacteria.

Star
Explainable ML for antibiotic class discovery
Nature, 2023

Using explainable machine learning techniques to discover a structural class of antibiotics active against S. aureus.

Automated machine learning for biological sequences
Cell Systems, 2023

Easing barriers for biologists to use machine learning to analyze, intepret, and design nucleic acid, peptide, and glycan sequences. Star

Machine learning for toehold switches
Nature Communications, 2020

Sequence-to-function deep learning frameworks for engineered riboregulators.

Star
Android app for lateral flow assay image analysis
Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2020

A CRISPR-based assay for the detection of opportunistic infections post-transplantation and for the monitoring of transplant rejection.

Star
Blue light-induced genome folding
Nature Methods, 2019

LADL, light-activated dynamic looping for endogenous gene expression control. Highlighted in Nature’s technologies to watch in 2020.

Details
Communication interface for Deaf patients and hearing physicians
Senior Design, 2018

Created neural machine translation and video capture algorithm. Honorable mention in Engineering senior design competition.

Details

Skills

Outside the Lab

Boston Sports

Baking

MIT Pride

Staying Active