Peter Hawkins, PhD

I apply machine learning at scale to solve problems in the life sciences. I trained as a theoretical physics researcher in Ultrafast Quantum Physics and transitioned via a deep interest in fundamental ML/AI, and a desire to make the world a better place, to applying ML to life science problems.

I have published first/joint-first author articles in Nature, Science Advances, Physical Review A. Recently I led a study of representation learning for T Cell Receptors, published in Nature Communications, where I worked with a postdoc and intern in my group, as well as others, to train and quantify an ML model trained on ~100M sequences.

CV

Experience

2023 - Jun 2024 : Principal Scientist, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

2022 - 2023 : Staff Scientist, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

2020 - 2022 : Scientist, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

2016 - 2018 : Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Marburg, Germany

2012 - 2016 : Graduate Student Researcher, Imperial College London, UK

Education

2016 PhD Physics, Imperial College London

2012 MSci Physics (first class honors), Imperial College London

Awards

Ken Allen Prize (2012)

• Awarded to a physics undergraduate for academic excellence.

Gloucester Research Prize (2011)

• Awarded for non-final year academic excellence.

Stanley Raimes Memorial Prize (2010)

• Awarded to a second year Physics student for outstanding performance in mathematics.