AI Pioneer Christina Theodoris Wins 2026 Seldin-Smith Award

Christina Theodoris, MD, PhD, an investigator at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, has been named the recipient of the American Society for Clinical Investigation’s 2026 Seldin-Smith Award for Pioneering Research. The honor is bestowed annually by the society, known as the ASCI, to a single early-career physician-scientist who demonstrates exceptional creativity and transformative accomplishments in biomedical research. Theodoris, who also serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Francisco, is being recognized for developing novel artificial intelligence models that change how scientists interrogate the inner workings of human cells.

At the center of her recognition is Geneformer, described by Gladstone as the world’s first foundational AI model created to predict how changing gene activity impacts individual human cells. According to the announcement, Geneformer has already identified promising new drug targets for heart disease. Building on that work, her lab recently introduced MaxToki, a temporal AI model capable of predicting cellular changes associated with aging and identifying methods to slow that process. Her lab’s models are designed to predict how gene networks regulate development, aging, and disease progression, work that the institute describes as having immediate applications for human health.

“Receiving the Seldin-Smith Award is an incredible honor and a wonderful recognition of the promise of our science to make a clinical impact,” Theodoris said in the announcement. “My team is deeply committed to developing AI models to uncover fundamental principles of gene network biology and accelerate the discovery of new, transformative therapies for complex diseases.” Benoit Bruneau, PhD, director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, praised her work at the intersection of AI and biology, saying that by developing generative models to map complex cellular dynamics, her research is opening new avenues to overcome disease and improve patient outcomes.

The award carries a historical resonance for Gladstone. Established in 2014, the Seldin-Smith Award honors Donald W. Seldin, MD, and Lloyd H. “Holly” Smith Jr., MD, two celebrated ASCI members who passed away in 2018 and are remembered for their research contributions, institutional leadership, and mentorship of generations of physician-scientists. Smith, a longtime Chair of Medicine at UC San Francisco, played a central role in UCSF’s rise to international prominence and in the founding of the Gladstone Institutes in 1979. Seldin played a similar role in the emergence of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas as a top biomedical center.

Deepak Srivastava, MD, president of Gladstone, who mentored Theodoris during her graduate studies as an MD-PhD student at UCSF a decade ago, called her an exemplar of the boundary-pushing creativity and clinical insight the award was designed to celebrate. He noted that it is profoundly meaningful for the community to see her receive an honor bearing the name of Holly Smith, whose vision shaped Gladstone’s history. Along with the recognition, the award includes dedicated mentorship from members of the award selection and advisory committees. Theodoris will also be inducted into the ASCI and deliver a keynote research presentation at the combined annual meeting of the ASCI, the Association of American Physicians, and the American Physician Scientists Association in April 2027.

Subject of Research: Award recognition of physician-scientist Christina Theodoris for artificial intelligence models of gene network biology

Article Title: Christina Theodoris to receive ASCI’s 2026 Seldin-Smith Award for Pioneering Research

Article References: Christina Theodoris to receive ASCI’s 2026 Seldin-Smith Award for Pioneering Research. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

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Keywords: Christina Theodoris, Seldin-Smith Award, ASCI, Gladstone Institutes, artificial intelligence, Geneformer, gene networks, cardiovascular disease, aging, physician-scientist, UC San Francisco, Christina