Heta A. Gandhi, PhD, is a Senior ML Scientist at Nurix Therapeutics, where she leads multiple high-impact projects at the intersection of molecular design and applied intelligence. She is leading hit identification and lead optimization efforts for key therapeutic targets, leveraging expertise in cheminformatic analysis of DNA-encoded libraries (DEL) and molecular property profiling for small molecules, degraders, and molecular glues. As the resident Explainable AI (XAI) expert, Heta develops interpretability frameworks that transform ‘black-box’ deep learning models into transparent, actionable insights that can be effectively communicated to crossfunctional research teams. Beyond her project leadership, Heta is currently driving the AI strategy and implementation for Nurix’s 150-member research organization. She is responsible for architecting agentic protocols and pipelines that leverage internal structured and unstructured data, to improve process efficiency and research productivity.

Heta earned her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester, under the guidance of by Dr. Andrew White at the WhiteLab. Her expertise is rooted in application of computational modeling to solve complex problems in the chemistry and chemical engineering fields. Her previous research includes:

• Explainable AI (XAI) & NLP: Applying advanced language models for molecular property prediction.
• Active learning & Symbolic regression: Experiment design for computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
• Molecular Dynamics (MD): Using simulations to study biomolecular interactions.
• Mixed Reality: Developing AR/VR tools to innovate chemical education.

Read all about Dr. Gandhi’s interesting work in the publications tab!

Beyond her research, she seeks out activites that challenge her. Some interests include long distance running, hiking, and reading.