Ritambhara Singh has been an invaluable member of our faculty at the Data Science Institute (DSI) and the Center for Computational Molecular Biology (CCMB) since she joined Brown in 2019. We will miss her greatly and wish her the best in her exciting new chapter.
While at Brown, Ritambhara has conducted innovative research focused on developing machine learning methods to integrate and model genomics datasets for biological and biomedical applications. She has received the NHGRI Genomic Innovator Award and Brown University’s Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award. In 2025, Ritambhara received the NSF CAREER award for developing integrative and explainable machine learning methods for heterogeneous health-related datasets.
“Ritambhara is a colleague and mentor who both thinks big and delivers major new insights. She is a transformative leader in the field who has impacted the lives of so many at Brown and beyond,” shares CCMB’s Erica Larschan.
Alongside her research endeavors, Ritambhara has been an exceptional mentor for many research students at Brown, advising fourteen PhD students, twenty Master’s students, more than fifty undergraduate students, and ten high school students. "Working with Ritambhara as my advisor has been transformative. Her dedication to my growth and willingness to let students explore uncharted territories taught me to think much more boldly,” says one of her PhD students at CCMB, Tuan Pham.
“I consider the success of my lab's trainees my greatest accomplishment during my time at Brown. I am very proud of the research program I was able to build thanks to my students' hard work and brilliance. It has been a pleasure to see them move on to amazing Ph.D. programs and research positions (industry/academia) after graduation,” says Ritambhara.
Ritambhara also taught the over-400-person Deep Learning class (CSCI 1470/2470), received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at Brown, served as the co-Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) for the CCMB program during the 2025-2026 academic year, and was the chair of the Diversity and Inclusion committee for the Computer Science department. “It was an immense pleasure working with Ritambhara in CCMB as faculty and as co-DGS. Her dedication to students and education was immense in addition to her phenomenal research," says colleague Jeff Bailey, faculty member and co-DGS for the CCMB program.
We will miss Ritambhara not only for her excellent research and teaching contributions to Brown, but also for her warmth and kindness. “Ritambhara has always been incredibly thoughtful, generous, and supportive. I will especially remember her warmth, her insightful feedback, and the positive energy she brought to CCMB. I have always appreciated how approachable and encouraging she is. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be her colleague. She has had a significant impact on our community, and she will be greatly missed!” says colleague Ying Ma of CCMB.
Ritambhara has shared her own farewell and hope for the future with us:
“I consider myself to be very lucky to have had a wonderful community of mentors, colleagues, collaborators, administrative staff, and students at Brown. Having started my career here almost straight out of graduate school, I felt very supported and appreciated as a junior researcher and still do. I have also really enjoyed teaching and working with students at Brown. They have been amazing, and I find myself energized by their curiosity and enthusiasm.”
As Ritambhara steps into her new role at UIUC, she is looking forward to starting new collaborations and growing her research program in new directions. We will miss her greatly, and we are looking forward to seeing her continued impact on her field in this next adventure.
There were too many wonderful quotes about Ritambhara to share in this article! Here are a few more:
“Ritambhara has been an immense pleasure to work with, she is always so responsible and responsive, cares about her students and peers, and has a huge warm heart. I worked with her (as DGS) in the last year on finances for CCMB and she always tried to find the best possible solution for students and take care of them. She will be missed and I am also very happy for her new chapter!”
– Kat Semenova, DSI Financial Manager
“Ritambhara and I first met attending the Sheridan Launch when we both started at Brown in 2019. Little did I know at that time what a superstar I had met. We worked on our course design projects and I remember thinking how someone relatively new to teaching was designing a great course. In addition to developing (and teaching) great courses I got to know Ritambhara outside of work, rock climbing and socializing, Ritambhara was always good for a smile and some fun.”
– Linda Clark, Associate Teaching Professor, Data Science, Academic Director of the DSI Online Master's Program
“Ritambhara has been a most wonderful colleague in the CS department and CCMB…She is honest, an inspiring teacher, unpretentious, a pleasure to have around. I will miss Ritambhara very much.”
– Sorin Istrail, James A. and Julie N. Brown Professor of Computational and Mathematical Sciences
I was lucky to chair the search committee that hired Ritambhara, and from the moment she set foot on campus she impressed people with the ease with which she explained complex topics, her ability to relate to students, and her interest in collaboration. I've been so lucky to have my office next door to hers in DSI, and to have co-advised trainees with her and to be her collaborator. Even though she is moving, I know she will continue to influence many colleagues and students at DSI and CCMB. I am so excited to see how her next chapter unfolds!”
– Sohini Ramachandran, Hermon C. Bumpus Professor of Biology and Data Science and Professor of Computer Science
"I've been extremely fortunate to work with Ritambhara during my PhD at the CCMB. She has not only been a wonderful advisor but also a great friend. Even if we won't be able to meet in person for my research anymore, I am still excited to continue my work with her remotely and hear about her exciting new steps at UIUC. I know she will do amazing things there!"
– Hannah Snell, CCMB PhD student