Get the latest news
Subscribe to receive updates from the School of Data Science.
Faculty
Stephen Turner
Associate Professor of Data Science
School of Data Science
Additional Roles
Assistant Dean for Research
School of Data Science
Email:
turner@virginia.edu
Additional Contact Information
Website: stephenturner.us/
Office: 1919 Ivy Rd., Rm. 410
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnersd/
Stephen Turner is an Associate Professor of Data Science and the Assistant Dean for Research at the University of Virginia School of Data Science. His work bridges genomics, data science, and national security, with a focus on biosecurity, synthetic biology, conservation, and bioinformatics applications in human health.
Turner began his academic career as a faculty member in the UVA School of Medicine Department of Public Health Sciences, where he served from 2011 to 2019. During that time, he was founding director of the UVA Bioinformatics Core and collaborated on many NIH-funded research programs, mentored students across disciplines, and taught several biomedical data science graduate courses and workshops.
After leaving UVA, Turner worked as a consultant for federal agencies on biosecurity and national security initiatives, before joining a biotech startup, leading computational biology and genomics strategy for species de-extinction and conservation efforts, integrating large-scale sequencing, genome editing, and machine learning technologies.
A trusted advisor to multiple biotech startups, Turner brings deep experience at the interface of academia, industry, entrepreneurship, government, and policy. His research interests span the application of novel computational approaches to problems in biosecurity, biodiversity conservation, and human health.
Turner holds a Ph.D. in Human Genetics and an M.S. in Applied Statistics from Vanderbilt University, and a B.S. in Biology from James Madison University, and is a registered U.S. Patent Agent.
Education
- Ph.D., Human Genetics, Vanderbilt University
- M.S., Applied Statistics, Vanderbilt University
- B.S., Biology, James Madison University
Data Science Domains
Analytics; Systems; Design; Data + Society
Areas of Practice
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; Biomedical, Health, and Life Sciences; Business, Markets, and Policy; Computational Sciences
Selected Publications
van Oosterhout, C. …, Turner S.D. Genome engineering in biodiversity conservation and restoration. Nature Reviews Biodiversity. 1: 543-555 (2025) doi:10.1038/s44358-025-00065-6.
Nagraj, V. P., …, Turner S.D. PLANES: Plausibility analysis of epidemiological signals. PLOS ONE 20, e0320442 (2025).
Turner S.D. biorecap: an R package for summarizing bioRxiv preprints with a local LLM. arXiv 2408.11707 (2024) doi: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2408.11707
Mathis, S. M., …, Turner S.D., … et al. Evaluation of FluSight influenza forecasting in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons with a new target laboratory-confirmed influenza hospitalizations. Nat Commun 15, 6289 (2024).
Nagraj, V. P., …, Turner S.D. Evaluating Performance of Near-Term Influenza Forecasters Across Consecutive Seasons. medRxiv 2023.09.28.23296216 (2023) doi:10.1101/2023.09.28.23296216.
Nagraj, V. P. & Turner, S. D. pracpac: Practical R Packaging with Docker. arXiv 2303.07876 (2023) doi: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2303.07876
Turner, S. D. et al. Evaluating the Impact of Dropout and Genotyping Error on SNP-Based Kinship Analysis With Forensic Samples. Frontiers in Genetics 13, (2022).
Turner, S. D. et al. skater: an R package for SNP-based kinship analysis, testing, and evaluation. F1000Res 11, 18 (2022).
Turner, S. D., Hulme-Lowe, C. & Nagraj, V. P. Forecasting Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) during the COVID-19 Pandemic. medRxiv 2022.10.27.22281617 (2022) doi:10.1101/2022.10.27.22281617.
Nagraj, V. P., …, Turner S.D. Automated Infectious Disease Forecasting: Use-cases and Practical Considerations for Pipeline Implementation. in Proceedings of the Epidemiology meets Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery Workshop (2022). doi:10.48550/arXiv.2208.05019.