Alexander Titus

Alexander J. Titus is an American AI and biotechnology expert, strategist, and entrepreneur notable for significant contributions to biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), and national security. His expertise in integrating AI with biotechnology and security has distinguished his career in both the public and private sectors.

Early life and education
Titus pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Puget Sound, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. He furthered his education at Dartmouth College, where he completed a Ph.D. in Machine Learning and Bioinformatics.

Career
Titus's career has been marked by a unique blend of roles across academia, government, and the private sector. His early roles included significant contributions in data science and bioinformatics at Dartmouth College.

Government career
Titus began his government career at the U.S. Department of Defense as the Assistant Director (later known as Principal Director) of Defense Research & Engineering for Biotechnology. He was instrumental in launching biotechnology modernization programs at the DoD and the bioindustrial manufacturing institute BioMADE. He later joined the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) as its first Chief Strategy Officer, where he developed pandemic response programs and led DoD-funded initiatives.

Private Sector Experience
Titus moved to Google in 2021 as a Strategic Business Executive, leading the Cloud Healthcare & Life Sciences strategy for the public sector, where he played a key role in launching and scaling pandemic response programs across the U.S. In 2022, he joined Colossal Biosciences as the VP of Strategy & Computational Sciences after a year on the scientific advisory board, where he led teams in various fields including Genotype-to-Phenotype Data Sciences, AI, Machine Learning, and Bioinformatics Engineering.

Academic Appointments
Titus's academic appointments include roles as a Principal Scientist at the USC Information Sciences Institute, Research Faculty at the USC Iovine and Young Academy, External Fellow at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, CA, and Affiliate Faculty at the University of New Hampshire.

Contributions to National Security
Titus has been actively involved in shaping national policy regarding biotechnology and AI. He has held positions on various policy and strategic committees, including the COVID-19 High-Performance Computing Consortium and the National Science and Technology Council at the White House.

In 2022, he became a congressionally-appointed Commissioner on the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, focusing on enhancing the U.S. defense and national security use of biotechnology. The Commission is set to release its interim report by the end of 2023 and its final report by the end of 2024.

Advisory and Entrepreneurial Roles
Throughout his career, Titus has served as an advisor to numerous startups and organizations, leveraging his expertise in computational product development and government strategy. He also launched the biotechnology publication Bioeconomy.XYZ at the start of the pandemic.

Personal life
Titus is a native of Hood River, Oregon, where he grew up exploring the wilderness and developed an appreciation for being outdoors. In 2014, Titus, along with his fiancee, set off on a long-distance bicycle ride from Prudhoe Bay, AK, to Tiera del Fuego, Argentina, but did not complete their journey.