Joan Clara Smith

Joan Smith is a principal engineer at Google. She is currently serving as a technical advisor to the CFO, where she oversees AI efficiency efforts, long-term planning of DCs and accelerator infrastructure, and hardware resource allocation across all Google platforms. Previously, she was the lead for Google's Cloud Databases organization, including Bigtable, Spanner, Cloud SQL, and several internal and external database systems.

Joan is also a bioinformatics consultant, and has worked with Yale, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and MIT; she has led research projects on cancer biomarkers, drug targeting, and SARS-CoV-2 risk factors.

She is on the Technical and Product Advisory Board of Surface Ventures, an investment fund focused on early stage technology startups, was the co-founder of Meliora Therapeutics, and is an angel investor.

Joan graduated with a B.Sc. in physics from MIT, where she did research on quantum computing and software engineering.

• Genome-wide identification and analysis of prognostic features in human cancers
• Chromosomal instability accelerates the evolution of resistance to anti-cancer therapies
  • Web resource and data availability: survival.cshl.edu
• Cigarette smoke exposure and inflammatory signaling increase the expression of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 in the respiratory tract

  Press Coverage:

  • Wired
  • The Week Magazine
  • Genetic Engineering News
• SRE Tools as Products, for IEEE
• Systematic identification of mutations and copy number alterations associated with cancer patient prognosis
• Full list of Publications
• Elite male faculty in the life sciences employ fewer women

  Press Coverage:

  • Slate
  • Boston Globe
  • Science Careers

Github: joan-smith LinkedIn: Joan Clara Smith