Meet the Team
Meet the people responsible for supporting and partnering with researchers to advance scientific discovery
Scientific Computing and Data / Meet the Team
Scientific Computing and Data was established at the Icahn School of Medicine in 2011. We partner with researchers across institutions around the globe to advance scientific discovery.
Scientific Computing and Data

Patricia Kovatch | System Chief, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computing and Data
Patricia Kovatch is the System Chief, AI Computing and Data at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) and founder of the Scientific Computing and Data division (October 2011). In her work at ISMMS and in her national and international collaborations, she emphasizes a collaborative approach, partnering computational and data experts with basic and translational scientists to tackle complex scientific questions to better diagnose and treat disease.
Computational and Data Ecosystem

Lili Gai, PhD | High Performance Computing Director
Lili Gai is the Director of High Performance Computing, overseeing Minerva Supercomputer processes and operations. Lili earned a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Hyung Min Cho, PhD | Computational Scientist
Hyung Min Cho is a Computational Scientist supporting Minerva Supercomputer processes and operations. He earned a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from Ohio State University and worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) as a postdoctoral researcher developing high-performance parallel applications.

Shamimul Hasan | Senior AI/GPU Computational Scientist
Shamimul Hasan is a Senior AI/GPU Computational Scientist. He is a research scientist in Artificial Intelligence for Health, Oak Ridge National Lab. His focus is on Graph Analytics, Big Data Management & Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Information Retrieval.

Yiyuan Liu, PhD | Data Ark Bioinformatician
Yiyuan Liu is Bioinformatician leading and supporting Data Ark (Mount Sinai Data Commons on Minerva) processes and operations.

Jielin Yu, PhD | Computational Scientist
Jielin Yu is a Computational Scientist supporting Minerva Supercomputer processes and operations. He earned a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University.

Wei Guo, PhD | HPC Architect
Wei Guo is an HPC Architect supporting Minerva Supercomputer processes and operations. Wei has a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering.

Eric Rosenberg | Sr. System Administrator
Eric Rosenberg is a Senior System administrator.

Sumit Saluja | Senior HPC Administrator
Sumit Saluja is a Senior HPC administrator with 15 years of experience in managing large-scale Linux clusters and enterprise storage systems at renowned institutions. His expertise is designing, optimizing, and securing HPC clusters and big data storage systems with CI/CD automation.

Rupan Hossain | Database Administrator
Rupan Hossain is a database administrator for the IT team.
Tejas Rao, PhD | HPC Architect
Tejas Rao is an HPC Architect with over 15 years of experience with High performance computing and extensive experience with operating system internals, continuous integration/automation, enterprise storage and cybersecurity.
Research Data Platforms

Timothy Quinn, PhD | Principal Data Architect
Tim Quinn is a principal data architect responsible for the strategy, design, and engineering of the infrastructure for delivering data to ISMMS researchers. He has over 12 years of experience in data warehousing, data architecture, and analytics in the healthcare industry. Tim is a graduate of Stanford University and earned his PhD from MIT.

Shivaji Punukollu | Technology Specialist
Shivaji Punukollu is a Technology Specialist III with expertise in ETL and data warehouse design.
Christopher Veal | Lead Clinical Data Warehouse Engineer
Christopher Veal is a Lead Clinical Data Warehouse Engineer. Chris has over 9 years of experience in healthcare. Born and raised in Louisville, KY, he graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science from University of Louisville Speed Scientific School.
Strategy

Andrew Deonarine, MD, PhD | Senior Principal Physician Informaticist
Andrew Deonarine is a Senior Principal Physician Informaticist. Andrew completed a fellowship in clinical informatics at Harvard Medical School as a Friedman Scholar and completed American Board certifications in Preventive Medicine in Clinical Informatics. He worked in primary care as an Informatics Lead and also has been co-leading Artificial Intelligence initiatives in Boston-based public health programs.

Hacer Savas, MD PhD | Research Data Compliance Manager
Dr. Hacer Savas is the Research Data Compliance Manager for the Scientific Computing and Data team. Before joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Savas served as an Academic Professional Research Specialist in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, where she coordinated multiple NIH-funded clinical research projects. She holds both an MD and a PhD and has developed strong expertise in high-throughput clinical and research laboratories over more than 25 years. Her background includes CLIA laboratory operations, genetics/genomics, cell biology, genotyping, and PCR technology. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, focusing on the diagnosis of metabolic disorders causing neuromuscular, mitochondrial, and glycogen storage diseases.

Edwin Thrower, PhD | Director of Science and Technology Communications
Edwin Thrower is Director of Science and Technology Communications. Edwin has in depth experience with medical communications having worked at various agencies including Ashfield Healthcare Communications, Parexel, Lockwood, and most recently Envision Pharma Group. Prior to agency work Edwin was a research scientist at Yale School of Medicine engaged in research for pancreatic disease.
Finance, Administration and Operations
Maria Julia Pendergast | Senior Operations Manager
Maria Pendergast is Senior Operations Manager. Maria holds an MS from Columbia University in Clinical Psychology. She has experience in project management and business operations.
Jian Tao | Financial Analyst II
Jian Tao is a Financial Analyst II. He works closely with senior leadership concerning all financial operations. Before joining Mount Sinai, he worked at Columbia University and the Research Foundation of CUNY as a post-awards grant administrator. Jian holds an MPA degree from SUNY Albany with a concentration in public finance.
