Nir Friedman (Hebrew: ניר פרידמן; born 1967) is an Israeli professor of computer science and biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research uses computer techniques and statistics to study systems biology, focusing on gene regulation, transcription, and chromatin.

Education and research

Friedman received his BSc degree from Tel Aviv University in 1987. He earned his MSc from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1992. In 1997, he completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University. His advisor was Joseph Halpern, and his research focused on artificial intelligence.

After completing postdoctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Friedman joined the School of Computer Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as a faculty member.

His well-known research includes studies on Bayesian network classifiers, which he conducted with Danny Geiger and Moises Goldszmidt. He also worked on Bayesian Structural EM and used Bayesian methods to analyze gene expression data, collaborating with Aviv Regev, Dana Pe'er, Eran Segal, Daphne Koller, and David Botstein. More recent research focuses on Probabilistic Graphical Models, studying how genes interact, exploring genetic interactions, and examining the role of chromatin in controlling gene activity, in collaboration with Oliver Rando.

In 2009, Friedman and Koller wrote a textbook about Probabilistic Graphical Models. That same year, he joined the Institute of Life Sciences and started an experimental laboratory. In this lab, he uses advanced robotic tools to study how yeast cells, specifically Saccharomyces cerevisiae, control gene activity.