Christopher E. Mason


Christopher E. Mason is an associate professor at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is also one of the founding Directors of the WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction with Dr. Oliver Elemento.

Education

Mason completed his dual BS in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2001. He did his PhD in Genetics from Yale University in 2006. Mason began work at Weill Cornell Medical College in 2009.

Research and career

Mason has published over 160 peer-reviewed publications and has been cited over 15378 times with an h-index of 59. His laboratory has also released 12 open-source software packages in genomics, epigenomics, metagenomics, and machine learning.
In 2013, Mason launched the PathoMap project to create the first genetic map of a city. This study led to the establishment of the International MetaSUB Consortium. Mason was a principal investigator for the NASA Twins Study. He also led the first demonstration of sequencing in zero gravity and designed the genomics and bioinformatics methods and experimental protocols that were used on the International Space Station for the mission to sequence DNA in space for the first time. The results looks promising for Mars mission. This work also led to Mason's selection as the Chair of the Steering Committee for the NASA GeneLab Data and Sample Archive and has highlighted Weill Cornell Medicine on two NASA mission patches. Mason has co-founded four biotechnology startup companies including Ongevity Health, Biotia, BridgeOmics, and Genome Liberty.