Winston Hide, PhD

Introducing Dr. Winston Hide, Ph.D., our distinguished Director of the Precision RNA Medicine Core at BIDMC. Dr. Hide joined BIDMC in August 2018, bringing a wealth of experience in computational biology and translational research.

Before joining BIDMC, Dr. Hide held the position of Professor and Chair of Computational Biology at the Sheffield Institute of Translational Neuroscience, where he served in both the Department of Neuroscience and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Hide is renowned for his groundbreaking work in implementing systems biology approaches to RNA medicine. He specializes in connecting intricate pathways underlying complex diseases with their regulatory noncoding RNAs. His innovative strategies are instrumental in identifying and prioritizing key target genes and processes related to conditions like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and drug resistance.

Furthermore, Dr. Hide has a strong history of collaboration with industry leaders, including Biogen, where he played a pivotal role in developing translational pipelines for target prioritization.

Dr. Hide's academic journey includes post-doctoral training at esteemed institutions such as the University of Texas, Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Smithsonian Institution Natural History Museum. He also gained valuable industry experience in Silicon Valley as the Director of Genomics at the MasPar Computer Corporation.

Notably, Dr. Hide is the founder of the South African National Bioinformatics Institute and co-authored the South African Government Biotechnology Strategy. His exceptional contributions have earned him prestigious awards, including the Oppenheimer Foundation Distinguished Sabbatical Research Fellowship in 2007 and induction into the Academy of Science of South Africa in the same year. Dr. Hide's remarkable career has made him the inaugural recipient of the "International Society for Computational Biology Award for Outstanding Achievement," recognizing his significant impact on the development of computational biology and bioinformatics in Africa.