Bertram Koelsch, Ph.D.

Director, Product Research & Development

Dr. Bertram Koelsch leads a team of R&D scientists at 23andMe whose work spans the full breadth of the 23andMe experience — from genetic ancestry and relative matching to consumer health insights. Drawing on machine learning and the insights unlocked by 23andMe’s vast base of research-consented participants, his team builds models that deepen what customers can learn about themselves. With a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley and UCSF, he brings a rigorous scientific foundation to the challenge of making genetics meaningful and actionable for everyone. At heart, Dr. Koelsch thinks of himself as an engineer — someone driven not just by scientific discovery, but by the desire to build things that tangibly improve people’s lives. That ethos runs through everything his team does, for example, ensuring polygenic risk scores can empower consumers to take a more proactive role in their own health.