RESEARCH:

Robert Serafin’s research focuses on developing artificial intelligence methods for biomedical image analysis. Specifically, he is interested in understanding how the spatial organization of the tumor immune microenvironment influences treatment response. Serafin uses computer vision and machine learning to analyze highly multiplexed fluorescence microscopy datasets of cancer biopsies, which capture the interactions between tumor and immune cells at high spatial and molecular resolution. Serafin is particularly interested in deriving biomarkers that describe spatial relationships between different immune cell populations and their changes in response to therapy. Ultimately, his goal is to translate these image-derived biomarkers into tools that can guide clinical decision making and inform therapeutic strategies for precision oncology.

BIO:

Rob Serafin is an Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Fellow in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Chicago. He received his bachelor’s degree in Physics from The Evergreen State College in 2014. From 2015 to 2019, he worked at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, where he developed novel 3D microscopy pipelines to study protein expression in the mouse visual cortex. In 2025, Rob completed his Ph.D. at the University of Washington where his doctoral thesis focused on 3D image analysis techniques for computational pathology applications. He has a longstanding interest in the combination of machine learning and cutting-edge imaging technologies. Outside of research, Rob is a mountain sport enthusiast who enjoys climbing, backpacking, and cycling.