What Defines Genius? Friends and Colleagues Share a Portrait of Dr. Atul Butte
Stanford University's Celebration of Life offered a stunning perspective on the scientist, entrepreneur, physician, mentor, and friend whose influence continues to shape medicine and biomedical AI.
On Saturday, June 21, 2025, one year ago this summer, 500 guests gathered at the Li Ka Shing Center Conference Center, Stanford University to celebrate the life of Atul Butte, who had passed away a week before on June 13, 2025 at the age of 55. Atul Butte was a pioneering physician and data scientist who transformed how health data are used to discover new treatments and improve patient care. This gathering marked the first of many that unfolded over the days, weeks and months that followed, allowing the community of people that knew him - or just knew of him - to pay their deepest respects to Dr. Butte and his family.
(1) At the heart of genius - showing up and delight
During this tender ceremony, family, friends and colleagues, including leaders from the country’s top medical schools and journals, reflected on his life together. As speakers presented, a consistent portrait emerged - one that went far beyond Dr. Butte’s scientific and business accomplishments. At the core was his personal relationships. As one colleague put it, it was not only his “genius,” but simply that he “showed up” that set him apart.
Here’s something about Atul that you can all emulate. And you don’t need his off-the-charts IQ. You don’t need his one-of-a-kind smile. And you don’t need his boundless energy. Atul showed up.” — Kenneth D. Mandl, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital
This combination of attributes is what allowed him to do something extraordinary with his life, and leave a lasting legacy. And, as the speakers revealed, while accomplishing great things and serving others, he always seemed absolutely delighted. This attitude was infectious and would leave those around him feeling the same - fulfilled and committed to doing everything they could to support him. Going forward, the community shared a strong sense of dedication to continuing his legacy - supporting the field of computational health, as well as Dr. Butte’s biggest commitments - his wife and child, followed by his academic legacy - the UCSF Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute and UC Center for Data Driven Insights and Innovations.
“In a world that often moves too fast, what Atul reminded us was that we should spend our time on problems that matter with people who matter.” — Philip Payne, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
“Atul’s boundless youth, the world has lost a rare, bright mind. But in this wake we each will find a call to lead. A call to give, his legacy will grow and live.” — Marina Sirota, PhD, UCSF
(2) Calculated risk-taking
Sam Hawgood, MBBS, chancellor of UCSF, shared Dr. Butte’s expertise and dedication, even after he became ill. Hawgood shared that he had spent three years actively recruiting Dr. Butte from Stanford to run what has come to be recognized as one of the most advanced centers of computational health under Dr. Butte’s leadership, the UCSF Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute (BCHSI). Hawgood’s remarks offered a rare, behind-the-scenes perspective on recruiting one of biomedical science’s leading innovators. The discussion, emerging across statements made by each of the senior leaders of the country’s top medical schools - and all of whom had hired Dr. Butte at different times in his career - also highlighted a theme that is rarely visible from the outside: once-in-a-generation innovation depends not only on brilliant individuals, but also on institutional leaders willing to invest in and act upon new ideas before success is certain. They provided a sense of what it takes to advance when the result is uncertain, and even risky.
“He created a program that screen-scraped the Cerner lab user interface and wrote in this arcane language, PostScript, a program that generated very tight summaries of patient problem lists. The best thing I’d ever seen, ever. We were all scared that Atul would stop doing it, and sure enough when he left we never had it again.” — Isaac “Zak” Kohane, MD, PhD, Harvard
(3) Mentoring with intent and instinct
In addition to Dr. Butte’s hiring managers, we heard from students and colleagues who were drawn to him as a mentor, including both those like Marina Sirota, PhD, whom Dr. Butte had recruited to UCSF with him from Stanford, and who had worked at his side for the last 10 years. She shared deep appreciation for his encouraging her to advance and providing her credit every step of the way.
“Nearly everything I know about doing science I learned from Atul. He taught me how to ask questions, how to think big, how to mentor and bring collaborative teams together. He taught me the importance of communication and telling a story. He really elevated people around him, making them feel good about themselves and the work that they do, which in turn inspired them to grow. He was incredibly loyal and dedicated to his work and his family, and his energy was contagious.” — Marina Sirota, PhD, UCSF
Similarly, his colleague Christopher Longhurst, MD, PhD shared more about his friendship with Dr. Butte - and referenced a group of friends. Through his comments, we learned more about their special bond as well and how Dr. Butte helped keep a group of colleagues - who also considered themselves friends - advancing their field, while fueling their friendship. Further Longhurst shared the story of someone whom Dr. Butte had only met once, and yet whose career he had inspired deeply. Together, these stories illustrated Dr. Butte’s instinct for mentoring and his commitment to ensuring that others would have all the skills they needed to continue his work.
“A gentleman in Turkey: ‘I only met Atul once. It was after a keynote he delivered in Morocco. We exchanged ideas about my next steps. He followed up a month later with an email to make sure I was working on those ideas.’ He said, ‘Atul completely changed the course of my life, and I only met him that one time.’” — Christopher Longhurst, MD, MS, UC San Diego, Seattle Children’s
(4) “Atul Butte, is that you?”
Dr. Butte’s unique perspective meant that any conversation with him could have enormous repercussions. Conversations would turn into solutions. People knew this, so his schedule was fully booked. His wife, Tarangini (Gini) Deshphande, PhD, shared one example that epitomized the demands on his time. One evening, her car broke down. He insisted that he would drive out to help her with a roadside car repair. Even then, in the dark and on a road in Silicon Valley, another car happened to drive by and then pulled over. They heard someone say, “Atul Butte, is that you? I’ve been wanting to talk to you!” (Given her sense of humor, even thinking of this scene makes her laugh - she knew just how many people were waiting in line to speak with her husband.) In retrospect, we now know how limited his time really was. However, he never wasted a moment, reaching out individually, as you will read in the testimonies, and using communications tools like TED Talks, social media, Congressional Hearings and video recordings to share his ideas as efficiently as possible. He ensured that all stakeholders - from patients to investors and regulators - had a way to hear what was on his mind so that they could eventually collaborate, as needed.
(5) Supporting his patients and the public through AI
Dr. Butte’s colleagues also shared more about Dr. Butte’s final journey, getting diagnosed with malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST), an ultra-rare and difficult-to-treat neurological cancer, and using this as an opportunity to recommit to a life-long theme of using data and AI to make health care more accessible. “Scalable” privilege” was a term, among many, that he had coined a few years prior, and it became one that he used more as he experienced life as one of the patients whose lives he had tended as a clinician and researcher throughout his career.
“He could call any famous cancer institute and get information. But most people couldn’t open those doors. And he believed AI was going to open those doors to everyone around the world.” — Sam Hawgood, MBBS, UCSF
(6) Personal relationships
At the center of his legacy, Dr. Butte’s wife, Tarangini (Gini) Deshpande, PhD provided a different perspective on the special emphasis Dr. Butte placed on the people around him - and in particular, his wife and child. Their love for each other was deeply evident in her comments, and was their relationship as partners of both the heart and the intellect.
“Atul’s name carries deep meaning. It means incomparable, one of a kind, unique. And in every aspect of his life, Atul truly lived up to that name.” — Tarangini (Gini) Deshpande, PhD
Her remarks, together with those of close friends and colleagues, underscored the central role that family, friendship, and community played in sustaining Dr. Butte’s work. Deshpande and Butte were clear complements to each other.
(7) Always another story - another conversation - this one about love, joy and optimism
As the afternoon concluded, conversations continued well beyond the formal program, reflecting both the depth of relationships he had with others, the level of loss felt by those in the room, but also a shared commitment to carrying Dr. Butte’s work forward and a sense of optimism that the work would be fulfilled and that the relationships and love would be ever-lasting.
“After his diagnosis, we started a new ritual. At the start of each dat we would clink our mugs and say, ‘Cheers, another morning.’ Even from the hospital, he insisted on continuing this ritual, determined to savor every moment we had together….”So, Atul, wherever you are today, cheers. Here’s to another morning.” — Tarangini (Gini) Deshpande, PhD
RECOMMENDED READING
Learn more about the Dr. Atul Butte Memorial Fund for MPNST Research
Atul Butte Celebration of Life, Stanford Medicine, June 20, 2025 [RECORDING]
Program: Celebration of Life
Atul Butte, MD, PhD
Priscilla Chan & Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor & Inaugural Director, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, UCSF
Chief Data Scientist, University of California Health System
Former Chief, Division of Systems Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine
10:30 am – Welcome
Peter Embi, MD, MS – Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Medicine & Endowed Director of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; President, American College of Medical Informatics
Philip Payne, PhD – Janet and Bernard Becker Professor and Vice Chancellor for Biomedical Informatics and Data Science, Washington University in St. Louis; President-Elect, American Medical Informatics Association
10:45 am – Opening Remarks
Sam Hawgood, MBBS – Chancellor & Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Distinguished Professor, University of California, San Francisco
Philip Pizzo, MD – Emeritus Dean, Stanford University School of Medicine
Euan A. Ashley, MBChB, PhD – Chair, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine
10:45 am – Colleague, Collaborator, and Trainee Reflections
Isaac “Zak” Kohane, MD, PhD – Marion V. Nelson Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School
Kenneth D. Mandl, MD, MPH – Director, Computational Health Informatics Program (CHIP), Boston Children’s Hospital & Donald A.B. Lindberg Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School
David Rubin, MD, Executive Vice President, University of California Health; Carrie Byington, MD, former Executive Vice President; and Cora Han, Chief Data Scientist, UC Health
Jessie Tenenbaum, PhD – Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Population Health Sciences; Former Chief Data Officer, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Marina Sirota, PhD – Professor of Pediatrics & Acting Director at the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco
Yves Lussier, MD – Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah School of Medicine
Christopher Longhurst, MD, MS – Executive Director, Jacobs Center for Health Innovation, Associate Dean & Professor, UC San Diego Health
11:55 am – Family Reflections
Gini Deshpande, PhD – Biotech entrepreneur, scientist, and beloved wife of Dr. Butte