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What happens when you put a biologist behind a keyboard?

Jacob Fredegaard Hansen

I t |

Sitting at the intersection of computational biology, AI, and pharmaceutical education — and building the bridges between them.

Curiosity-driven data scientist who believes the best innovations happen when you empower people to think differently about their data.

Black and white portrait of Jacob Fredegaard Hansen, Bioinformatician and Data Science Specialist in Copenhagen Jacob Fredegaard Hansen - Bioinformatician specialising in computational protein design and drug discovery

The Short Version

From molecules to models

I started in a wet lab, pipetting and staring at protein gels. Somewhere along the way, I realised the most exciting part wasn't the experiment itself - it was the data it produced. That curiosity pulled me from biochemistry into computational biomedicine, and eventually into the role I have today: helping researchers and students unlock the power of data science and AI.

What drives me

I'm driven by watching people grow. Whether it's a scout learning to lead a patrol, a clinician running their first R script, a professor discovering what AI can do for their teaching, or a student winning a Gold Medal at an international competition - that moment of transformation is what gets me out of bed.

To make those moments happen, I combine state-of-the-art data science and AI with bioinformatics tools. Together, these can spark novel innovations that wouldn't exist in either field alone.

The next breakthrough in drug discovery won't come from biology alone, or from AI alone. It will come from people who speak both languages fluently - and I think teaching that fluency is one of the most important things I can do.

Location

Copenhagen, Denmark

Current Role

Data Science Specialist, CPDSE - University of Copenhagen

Background

MSc Computational Biomedicine, SDU

Languages

Danish (Native), English (Fluent), German (Intermediate)

Where I've Been

Click or drag a role to explore the details.

Data Science Specialist

Center for Pharmaceutical Data Science Education

Dept. of Drug Design & Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen

2025 – Present

Leading cross-institutional AI workflow development and designing data science curricula across pharmaceutical programmes at UCPH and SDU. Building hands-on teaching frameworks, workshops, and strategic outreach connecting academia with industry.

AI WorkflowsCurriculum DesignCross-InstitutionalIndustry Outreach

Young Academy Panel Member

DDSA - Danish Data Science Academy
2024 – Present

Shaping DDSA strategy and serving as jury member in the Danish National Championship in AI (DMiAI). Helping strengthen the Danish data science ecosystem through community initiatives.

StrategyDMiAI JuryCommunity

iGEM Supervisor

SDU-Denmark iGEM Team

Novo Nordisk Foundation supported

2023 – 2024

Mentored student teams in the world's largest synthetic biology competition. 2023: Gold Medal + Special Prize for Best Integrated Human Practices, nominated for Best Bioremediation, Best Sustainable Development Impact, and Best Presentation. 2024: Silver Medal + nominated for Best Education.

Gold Medal 2023Silver Medal 2024Best Human PracticesSynthetic BiologyMentorship

Data Scientist in Computational Proteomics

Protein Research Group, University of Southern Denmark
2022 – 2024

Built and integrated a proteomic workflow into the National Health Data Science Sandbox. Created Docker-based environments on UCloud HPC with GPU-accelerated protein structure prediction. Co-founded the AI Special Interest Group and supported 60+ researchers.

ProteomicsDockerHPCAlphaFold60+ Researchers

Content Creation & Multimedia Specialist

Life Science Fyn

2022 – 2024

Elevated the profile of the life science sector on Funen through high-quality photo and video content for marketing campaigns, PR initiatives, and social media. Leveraged a biochemistry background to authenticate science communication and outreach.

Science CommunicationPhotographyVideoLife Science

Outreach Ambassador & Teaching Assistant

University of Southern Denmark

2019 – 2022

Introduced high school students to bioinformatics through lectures and hands-on exercises. Served on the departmental Teaching Committee and supported IT infrastructure.

BioinformaticsOutreachTeaching Committee

Freelance Photographer

jacobfh.com
2013 – Ongoing

Self-taught photographer specialising in concert, event, and life science photography. Published by UNICEF, Danmarks Radio, TV2 Danmark, Aller Media, and Berlingske Media. Collaborations with Odense Municipality, Roskilde Festival, and the University of Southern Denmark.

ConcertsRoskilde FestivalLife ScienceUNICEFDR / TV2

Education

2020 – 2022

Master of Science

Computational Biomedicine

University of Southern Denmark, Odense

Master project (60 ECTS): PWM-based Prediction of Transcription Factor Binding Sites. Worked across Functional Genomics and Data Science & Statistics, developing expertise in R, Linux, Bash, and DuckDB for large-scale data analysis.

2017 – 2020

Bachelor of Science

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

University of Southern Denmark, Odense

Thesis on genome-wide PPARγ analysis with Prof. Susanne Mandrup. Won a Gold Medal for Conjugaid in the iGEM Competition through the SDU Talent Program (additional 30 ECTS). Chaired the department's student association.

Teaching & Mentorship

I teach to make the complex accessible. My courses blend bioinformatics, data science, and real-world biomedical data - so students don't just learn theory, they build something they can use.

MSc

Biostatistics in R I & II

Lead instructor & course designer

ANOVA, linear models, and hands-on R projects applied to omics data including RNA-seq, proteomics, and epidemiological datasets.

MSc

Protein Structure & Modeling

Co-instructor & content developer

Structural bioinformatics with AlphaFold2, AlphaFold3, ColabFold, ESMFold, and molecular visualization in VMD.

PhD

Applied Bioinformatics Workshops

Module designer & co-instructor

Computational workflows on UCloud HPC with Git-based version control. Emphasis on reproducibility and practical scripting.

Mixed

Health Data Science Sandbox

Lead on proteomics module

Docker-based proteomics environment on UCloud HPC, enabling researchers with limited programming experience to analyse clinical datasets.

Contributions

Competition

SDU-Denmark - iGEM 2024 (Silver Medal)

SDU-Denmark iGEM Team - supervised by Jacob Fredegaard Hansen

iGEM Grand Jamboree 2024 - Nominated for Best Education

Supervised the SDU iGEM team to a Silver Medal with a nomination for Best Education.

Competition

vitroFAS - iGEM 2023 (Gold Medal)

SDU-Denmark iGEM Team - supervised by Jacob Fredegaard Hansen

iGEM Grand Jamboree 2023 - Special Prize: Best Integrated Human Practices

Supervised the SDU iGEM team to a Gold Medal and multiple nominations including Best Bioremediation Project and Best Presentation.

Competition

Conjugaid - iGEM 2019 (Gold Medal)

SDU-Denmark iGEM Team - including Jacob Fredegaard Hansen

iGEM 2019 - SDU Talent Program

Won a Gold Medal as part of the SDU-Denmark team through the extracurricular SDU Talent Program (30 ECTS).

Thesis

PWM-based Prediction of Transcription Factor Binding Sites

Jacob Fredegaard Hansen

MSc Thesis, University of Southern Denmark, 2022

60 ECTS master project supervised by Asst. Prof. Jesper Grud Skat Madsen, conducted across Functional Genomics and Data Science & Statistics.

Beyond the Lab

The best ideas don't come from staring at a screen. They come from the space between disciplines, between effort and rest, between a good book and a long run.

ENFJ-A The Protagonist

I lead with conviction and curiosity - and it turns out that maps neatly onto a personality type. The ENFJ-A thrives on helping others grow, sees patterns where others see noise, and brings structure to ambitious ideas. That's me in a computational pipeline, a pharmaceutical data science classroom, a life science AI workshop - and equally, out on a long run or behind a camera lens. Each trait below connects directly to something I do - not as a coincidence, but as a blueprint.

Energy 82% Extraverted
Extraverted Introverted

Energised by people, not drained by them. Teaching 60+ researchers, running workshops, and co-founding an AI community aren't tasks I endure - they're where I do my best work.

Mind 84% Intuitive
Intuitive Observant

I see the bigger picture before the details - which is why I naturally bridge biology and AI, connect wet lab data to computational models, and translate scientific complexity into curricula that actually land.

Nature 62% Feeling
Thinking Feeling

Decisions are guided by impact on people, not just outcomes. That's why mentoring iGEM students, designing inclusive curricula, and investing in the next generation of scientists matters as much as publishing papers.

Tactics 65% Judging
Judging Prospecting

Structured, decisive, and deadline-driven. Cross-institutional programmes, Docker-based HPC environments, and competition-ready student teams don't materialise without someone who plans and follows through.

Identity 75% Assertive
Assertive Turbulent

Confident under uncertainty. Building AI workflows in a field that didn't have them, supervising teams in international competitions, and shaping national data science strategy all require backing your own judgement.

Reading

I'm always in the middle of something - from popular science and biographies to leadership books and AI. A few favourites: Factfulness by Hans Rosling, and Atomic Habits by James Clear.

See what I'm reading on Goodreads →

Music

Music is how I recharge. Whether it's discovering new artists, getting lost in a playlist while coding, or experiencing live concerts through a camera lens - it's a constant companion.

Running

Running taught me that small, consistent efforts compound into something remarkable. One kilometre at a time, one day at a time. The same philosophy applies to science, teaching, and building anything meaningful.

Photography

Self-taught since 2013, capturing concerts, science events, and life in between. Published by UNICEF, Danmarks Radio, TV2, and Berlingske. Photography taught me to see the story before it unfolds - a skill that transfers directly to data.

See my portfolio at jacobfh.com →

Scouting & Leadership

More than 20 years in the Danish scouting movement shaped how I think about leadership: it's about enabling others, not directing them. That principle carries into everything I do - from mentoring students to guiding organisations.

Skills & Expertise

Programming & Tools

R Python Bash Linux Git Docker DuckDB HPC / UCloud

Bioinformatics & Proteomics

Proteomics AlphaFold ColabFold ESMFold VMD Mass Spectrometry Sequence Analysis RNA-seq

Data Science & AI

Machine Learning Statistical Analysis Data Visualization LLM Workflows ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini R Markdown

Leadership & Teaching

Curriculum Design BSc/MSc/PhD Teaching Mentorship Project Management Workshop Facilitation Science Outreach Community Building

Molecular Playground

From nuclear receptors to GPCRs and transcription factors - explore the 3D structures behind my research. These are the kinds of targets I work with using AlphaFold, ColabFold, and molecular visualization tools.

PPARγ (Human)

PDB: 1PRG

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma - a nuclear receptor and master regulator of adipogenesis and glucose metabolism. This structure shows the ligand-binding domain bound to rosiglitazone, a thiazolidinedione antidiabetic drug. Central to my BSc thesis on genome-wide PPARγ analysis.

Residues 272
Method X-ray
Resolution 2.3 Å

Drag to rotate · Scroll to zoom · Right-drag to pan

Things I've Built

Proteomics Sandbox

Educational proteomics tools for biomedical researchers, deployed on UCloud HPC as part of the national Health Data Science Sandbox.

Jupyter Proteomics Docker

AlphaFold Workshop

Hands-on protein folding prediction with AlphaFold2 and MMseqs2, designed as a learning resource for students and researchers.

Jupyter AlphaFold Protein Structure

FASTA Parser

Python tool for sequence analysis and TSV output of DNA or protein sequences.

Python Bioinformatics CLI

Photo Batch Downscaler

GUI app for batch image resizing, built to streamline photography workflows.

Python GUI Photography

FTP Directory Size

Python script to calculate directory and file sizes by type on an FTP server.

Python FTP DevOps

File Organizer Tool

Shell utility for searching, copying, and unzipping files based on pattern matching.

Shell Automation Utility

How Can I Help?

Whether you're a researcher, an educator, or an organisation - there's a specific way I can add value. Pick what resonates.

For Researchers

Build your AI pipeline

You have biological data and a question. I help you design and implement the computational workflow - from proteomics and structure prediction to LLM-assisted analysis - so your science moves faster.

  • AI workflow development
  • Protein structure prediction
  • Proteomics & omics data analysis
  • HPC environment setup
Let's build it
For Organisations

Translate AI into your strategy

You know AI matters for drug discovery and pharmaceutical R&D - but bridging the gap between hype and implementation is hard. I help organisations build the internal capability and strategic clarity to make it real.

  • Data science strategy & roadmapping
  • AI literacy for life science teams
  • Academia–industry collaboration
  • Cross-institutional programme design
Book a call

Let's Talk

Whether you want to collaborate on data science education, explore AI for your research, or just swap book recommendations - I'd love to hear from you.