Andrea Grioni, PhD - Senior Data Scientist
Andrea Grioni, PhD - Senior Data Scientist II - Biomarker Development (Nephrology) at Novartis
Where are you from, and what is your educational background?
I’m from Italy, specifically a small town between Milan and Lake Como. From a young age, I was passionate about technology and biology. This led me to attend an experimental high school that combined a traditional scientific curriculum with hands-on lab work and computer science classes a perfect fit for my interests (and a bonus: no Latin or Greek!). For my bachelor’s degree, I studied Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at a university in Milan, focusing on clinical biology, genetics, and molecular biology, with introductory bioinformatics courses. Later, I pursued a master’s at another Milanese university with a stronger emphasis on computer science and bioinformatics.
What were your research projects?
Master’s Thesis: I studied plant development, identifying key regulators of flower development in rice to improve cold resistance a critical need for rice crops in Northern Italy’s Pianura Padana, where temperature fluctuations cause sterility in flowers. Under Prof. Martin Kater, I used cutting-edge techniques like laser-assisted microdissection and mRNA sequencing, gaining wet-lab and computational experience. I wanted to continue the project as a PhD student but I was not accepted to the program (end of 2013).
Early Career & PhD: For personal reasons, I decided to dedicate my bioinformatics skills to pediatric leukemia research through an internship at Fondazione Tettamanti in Monza. There, I joined the team of Prof. Giovanni Cazzaniga, developing the bioinformatics software for Next Generation Sequencing diagnostics kits for leukemia. This work connected me with Dr. Nikos Darzentas, who invited me to collaborate with his team in Brno, Czech Republic. In 2015, I moved to Brno while continuing work with Italian colleagues; I attempt a second application to the PhD program at the university of Milan, which did not work out (2016). Eventually, I secured an even better doctorate program by driving the agreement between the University of Milan-Bicocca (Translational Medicine) and Masaryk University, Brno (Biochemistry) for a join PhD program in 2017. It was a major achievement for me, which was also supported by Giovanni and Vojtech Bystry, my supervisor in Brno.
My PhD research blended diagnostics and innovation:
- Translational Projects: Developing new NGS tools and bioinformatics for diagnostics in hematohoncology, also by collaborating with industry leaders such as Illumina, Shopia Genomics, and QIAGEN.
- Machine Learning: Later in 2019, I joined Dr. Panagiotis Alexius’s team in Brno, specializing in deep learning for genomics.
Reflection: My journey was driven by curiosity, resilience, and serendipity from rice flowers to pediatric cancer, from Italy to the Czech Republic, and finally to pharma. None of it was linear, but each step taught me to embrace challenges.
When did you transition into industry and what is your current position?
I transitioned into industry after defending my PhD thesis in July 2020. Currently, I work as a data scientist in biomarker development within translational medicine, which is part of biomedical research at Novartis.
What do you do?
Biomarker development supports clinical trials across all phases—early-stage (Phase I and II) and late-stage, including submission-ready Phase III trials. Supporting means to help understand if a specific measured marker, which can be digital (activity), molecular (protein levels, transcriptomics) or imaging, can demonstrate the beneficial effect of the new treatment compared to placebo (e.g. reduction of disease severity, mrotality, etc..). Being part of translational research, we also facilitate back translation, where insights from ongoing trials feed back into the research pipeline to guide the development of next-generation drugs.
Beyond trial support, we contribute to scientific communication and marketing strategies, helping define the communication strategy for launching new therapeutics. It’s a highly versatile role, positioned at the intersection of research and development, which means we engage in a broad range of innovative projects.
We frequently collaborate with other data science units, such as Data42, to develop AI-driven methods for various applications, including molecular and disease biology understanding, patient subgroup identification and discovery of new biomarkers.
Is your job related to the work you did during your PhD/Postdoc?
Yes. The tools, mindset, and ways of working, such as collaborating with professionals from diverse backgrounds (medical doctors, patients, clinical biologists) remain the same, just now on a larger scale.
How did you adapt to the cultural and operational differences between academia and your current role?
It took time. Looking back, I joined Novartis in the middle of the pandemic, working from home while navigating a completely new environment. Initially, I relied heavily on my technical skills, believing that increasing the number of analyses and projects would automatically translate into success. I also had a tendency to accommodate every request for additional analyses or data, often misaligning with business priorities and investing too much time in non-critical tasks.
At some point, I received feedback that I was still too academic—a statement that helped me recognize the shift I needed to make. Onboarding into industry isn’t straightforward; it requires time, adaptability, guidance and a clear understanding of how technical work fits into broader business objectives.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
At the core of everything we do is one goal: bringing better treatments to patients worldwide in the most effective and safe way possible. The data we analyze represents real people, each facing the challenges of their disease, which gives purpose to our work.
I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with multiple functions across Novartis—clinical development, research, regulatory, patients engagement, marketing, and medical affairs—ensuring that every step, from early research to patient access, is aligned. This role allows me to see firsthand how clinical trials are run, the challenges involved, and how those challenges influence my daily work. Every person in this process is driven by the same mission: to make new therapies a reality for patients in the most rigorous, thoughtful, and safe manner.
What helped you succeed in your career transition?
It was a combination of factors. First, the demand for data scientists was rising, and the pharmaceutical industry experienced a growth during the pandemic. Additionally, the role I landed was in biomarker development—closely aligned with the work I did during my PhD in diagnostics. My previous experience working with cross-functional teams, collaborating internationally, and presenting at scientific conferences also helped.
However, it wasn’t just about my skills; external factors played a big role too—industry trends, economic stability, and the growing need for data-driven decision-making all contributed to making this transition possible at that time.
What advice made the most difference in your professional development?
Being resilient—but also being clear about what I want and where I want to go. Resilience helps navigate challenges, but having a clear direction ensures that my efforts are purposeful and aligned with my long-term goals.
Building a strong network has also been crucial. Talking to senior colleagues, both within my company and outside, has given me valuable insights and guidance. Learning from others’ experiences helps to better understand career paths, industry trends, and different ways of working.
What can I wish you for the years to come?
Thank you for this great offline interview! I truly hope it will help students navigate their transition into industry.
For the years ahead, you can wish me continuous growth, exciting challenges, and the opportunity to keep making a meaningful impact—both in science and in helping others on their career journey. And, of course, a bit of luck never hurts! 😊
Andrea Grioni’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agrioni/
