Jeff Hammerbacher is a well-known data scientist and a pioneer in data science. He developed an early interest in mathematics, which set the stage for his career. Hammerbacher attended Harvard University, where he faced challenges but eventually earned a degree in mathematics. In 2006, he joined Facebook as the founding manager of the Data team, where he created methods for processing large amounts of data. He introduced Hadoop, an open-source database project that allowed near real-time data processing, greatly enhancing Facebook's targeted advertising and profitability.
After three years at Facebook, Hammerbacher co-founded Cloudera, focusing on Hadoop and related technologies. As chief scientist, he was key in improving data management software. In 2010, after a health crisis, Hammerbacher shifted his focus to medicine, especially cancer research. He was recruited by Dr. Eric Schadt at Mount Sinai Hospital, where he worked on making personalized cancer treatments more automated and accessible. His contributions to biomedicine have been featured in the New York Times, and he is a founder and advisory board member of the COVID Tracking Project.
Currently, Hammerbacher is an Assistant Professor at Hammer Lab, an investor at Techammer, and holds board positions at Ciox and Cytel. He has received many awards, including being named an MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 and a Forbes Disruptor Under 30. Hammerbacher is credited with coining the term "Data Scientist" and has greatly influenced the field. His work has led to creating popular open-source databases like Cassandra, Hive, and Impala. His innovative approaches and commitment to advancing technology have made a lasting impact on both the tech industry and biomedical research.