VIPBG News

By Badi Quinteros

Dr. Stephen Vieno’s academic journey has spanned continents and disciplines and demonstrates a commitment to integrating medicine with data science. A native of Leesburg, Virginia, Stephen earned his medical degree — Bachelor of Medicine (MB), Bachelor of Surgery (BCh), and Bachelor of Obstetrics (BAO) — from the University of Galway in Ireland. There, he completed a pre-medical year followed by five years of medical training, with clinical rotations at University Hospital Galway and Sligo University Hospital, equivalent to  a US medical degree. He then completed his Irish medical internship, equivalent to the first year of residency in the United States, preparing him to work as a physician.

Seeking to expand his skill set beyond traditional medical practice, Stephen pursued the Master of Science in Human Genetics with a concentration in Genomic Data Science at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Drawn to the intersection of medicine, computation, and genetics, he aimed to develop expertise in statistical modeling and machine learning approaches applicable to large-scale biomedical datasets. During his time at VCU, Stephen served as a teaching assistant for the Advanced Human Genetics course (HGEN 502), presented research at the VCU Epigenetics Symposium, and was nominated for the Phi Kappa Phi Award in recognition of his scholarly work.

Stephen’s thesis focused on the rare variant genetic architecture of major depressive disorder (MDD), a complex psychiatric condition with relatively low heritability and heterogeneous presentation. Using data from the All of Us (AoU) Research Program — a large, U.S.-based biobank integrating healthcare records from over 50 systems — he developed a gene set-based rare variant analysis framework. This included refining electronic health record-derived phenotypes, constructing a polygenic risk score to account for common variant effects, and applying advanced variant annotation tools to prioritize brain tissue-mediated gene sets. His work established a foundation for future MDD analyses within AoU and identified promising candidate gene sets for further functional validation.

Beyond the lab, Stephen values the collaborative environment within the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics (VIPBG), where peer-to-peer support and shared expertise have enriched his training. His interests outside of research include cooking — a passion developed during medical school — regular exercise, and spending time with his wife, Anna, and their family.

After graduation, Stephen will return to Ireland while his wife completes her PhD. There, he plans to continue practicing medicine and ultimately apply for residency programs that integrate clinical care with research. His goal is to leverage his training in machine learning and genomic analysis to develop clinically relevant tools, with particular interest in oncology and psychiatric disorders.