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What if the hidden patterns of time series data could be unlocked to predict the future with remarkable accuracy? In this episode of Impact AI, I sit down with Max Mergenthaler Canseco to discuss democratizing time series data analysis through the development of foundation models. Max is the CEO and co-founder of Nixtla, a company specializing in time series research and deployment, aiming to democratize access to advanced predictive insights across various industries.
In our conversation, we explore the significance of time series data in real-world applications, the evolution of time series forecasting, and the shift away from traditional econometric models to the development of TimeGPT. Learn about the challenges faced in building foundation models for time series and a time series model’s practical applications across industries. Discover the future of time series models, the integration of multimodal data, scaling challenges, and the potential for greater adoption in both small businesses and large enterprises. Max also shares Nixtla’s vision for becoming the go-to solution for time series analysis and offers advice to leaders of AI-powered startups.
Key Points:
Quotes:
“Time series are in one aspect, the DNA of the world.” — Max Mergenthaler Canseco
“Time is an essential component to understand a change of course, but also to understand our reality. So, time series is maybe a somewhat technical term for a very familiar aspect of our reality.” — Max Mergenthaler Canseco
“Given that we are all training on massive amounts of data and some of us are not disclosing which datasets we’re using, it’s always a problem for academics to try to benchmark foundation models because there might be leakage.” — Max Mergenthaler Canseco
“That’s an interesting aspect of foundation models in time series, that benchmarking is not as straightforward as one might think.” — Max Mergenthaler Canseco
“I think right now in our field probably benchmarks are not necessarily indicative of how well a model is going to perform in real-world data.” — Max Mergenthaler Canseco
“I think that we’re also going to see some of those intuitions that come from the LLM field translated into the time series field soon.” — Max Mergenthaler Canseco
Links:
Max Mergenthaler Canseco on LinkedIn
Nixtla
Nixtla on X
Nixtla on LinkedIn
Nixtla on GitHub
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
In this episode, I'm joined by Ron Alfa, Co-Founder and CEO of Noetik, to discuss the groundbreaking role of foundation models in advancing cancer immunotherapy. Together, we explore why these models are essential to his work, what it takes to build a model that understands biology, and how Noetik is creating and sourcing their datasets. Ron also shares insights on scaling and training these models, the challenges his team has faced, and how effective analysis helps determine a model’s quality. To learn more about Noetik’s innovative achievements, Ron’s advice for leaders in AI-powered startups, and much more, be sure to tune in!
Key Points:
Quotes:
“Our thesis for Noetik is that one of the biggest problems we can impact if we want to make and bring new drugs to patients is predicting clinical success; so-called translation — that's where we focus Noetik, how can we train foundation models of biology so that we can better translate therapeutics from early discovery and preclinical models to patients.” — Ron Alfa
“We think the most important thing for any application of machine learning is the data.” — Ron Alfa
“The goal here is to train models that can do what humans cannot do, that can understand biology that we haven't discovered yet.” — Ron Alfa
“The big aim of Noetik is to develop these [foundational] models for therapeutics discovery.” — Ron Alfa
Links:
Ron Alfa on LinkedIn
Ron Alfa on X
Noetik
Noetik Octo Virtual Cell (OTCO)
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
How can foundation models accelerate breakthroughs in precision medicine? In today’s episode of Impact AI, we explore this question with returning guest, Julianna Ianni, Vice President of AI Research and Development at Proscia, a company revolutionizing pathology through cutting-edge technology. Join us as we explore how their platform, Concentriq, and its new Embeddings feature are transforming AI model development, making pathology-driven insights faster and more accessible than ever before. You’ll also learn how Proscia is shaping the future of precision medicine and discover practical insights for leveraging AI to advance healthcare. Whether you're curious about pathology, AI, or innovations in precision medicine, this episode offers invaluable takeaways you won’t want to miss!
Key Points:
Quotes:
“With the rise of foundation models that are pathology-specific and more powerful than the models of yesterday, the ability to extract embeddings efficiently became even more important for us.” — Julianna Ianni
“The pathology world didn't need another hit movie. It needed a streaming service.” — Julianna Ianni
“[Continue] to innovate and [understand] what's out there. There's a lot of change in the [pathology] field right now – You're going to make plans and then you're going to need to remake those plans because things are changing so quickly.” — Julianna Ianni
“ChatGPT didn't pervade our culture because it's fantastic technology. It pervaded our culture because the fantastic technology was easy to use. Pathology should be that easy. Our aim is to drive it there.” — Julianna Ianni
Links:
Proscia
Julianna Ianni on LinkedIn
Julianna Ianni on X
Julianna Ianni on Google Scholar
Concentriq Embeddings
Concentriq Embeddings internal case study
Proscia AI Toolkit
Zero-Shot Tumor Detection Example
Previous episode of Impact AI: Data-Driven Pathology with Coleman Stavish and Julianna Ianni from Proscia
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
With farmers sometimes waiting weeks for lab results to make critical decisions, Benjamin De Leener, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of ChrysaLabs, sought to transform the future of soil health. ChrysaLabs has developed a groundbreaking handheld, AI-powered probe that delivers fast field-ready insights into soil properties like pH, nutrients, and organic matter.
In this episode of Impact AI, Benjamin dives into the journey of creating this innovative tool, the challenges of working with complex agricultural data, and the role of machine learning in empowering farmers to make sustainable, data-driven decisions. Tune in to discover how this technology is not only boosting farming efficiency but also contributing to a healthier ecosystem and the fight against climate change!
Key Points:
Quotes:
“There’s a translation between the light information that we receive from the spectrometer and the information that is actionable for the farmers and agronomists. The machine learning models are between the hardware, the application, and what the farmers can do.” — Benjamin De Leener
“The main challenge that the agronomists and the farmers have is the data about what’s in the soil. So, that’s what we provide.” — Benjamin De Leener
“The more data you accumulate, the bigger the variability that you need to take into account. It’s not always better to think, ‘The more data I have, the better’ because sometimes, the less data, the more focused the models are.” — Benjamin De Leener
“We want to combat climate change – [We believe] that the soil can sequester a lot of carbon through agriculture, and we want to provide a way to measure that so that, when we choose one agronomical practice over another, we understand what we’re doing.” — Benjamin De Leener
Links:
ChrysaLabs
ChrysaLabs InsightLabs
Benjamin De Leener on LinkedIn
Benjamin De Leener on Google Scholar
Benjamin De Leener on X
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
Can AI cure autoimmune diseases? This episode of Impact AI dives into the groundbreaking work of DeepCure, where artificial intelligence meets medicinal chemistry to tackle some of healthcare's most stubborn challenges. Co-founder and CEO Kfir Schreiber shares how his team uses advanced machine learning tools, physics simulations, and human expertise to design the next generation of small molecule drugs. From overcoming data limitations to fostering tight collaboration between machine learning scientists and chemists, this discussion illuminates the potential of AI-driven innovation in transforming patient outcomes. With a rheumatoid arthritis drug nearing clinical trials, DeepCure is poised to redefine the future of medicine. Tune in to discover how AI can accelerate drug discovery, overcome data challenges, and create life-changing therapies, as well as how these insights can inspire your own innovative pursuits!
Key Points:
Quotes:
“Machine learning in our space is almost never a complete solution. It's a way to augment our chemists [and] our biologists [to] try to make them capable of solving problems that were unsolved before.” — Kfir Schreiber
“One of the best things about DeepCure [is the] very tight collaboration between the domain experts and our machine learning scientists.” — Kfir Schreiber
“Your average machine-learning scientist doesn't have chemistry intuition. We need this feedback and we need to integrate this feedback back into our models to make the predictions make sense.” — Kfir Schreiber
“Focus on the problem, focus on the value, and work your way backwards to the best tools to use.” — Kfir Schreiber
Links:
DeepCure
Kfir Schreiber on LinkedIn
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
What if we could unlock the hidden potential of unstructured health data to improve patient outcomes? In this episode, I sit down with David Sontag, co-founder and CEO of Layer Health, to discuss the transformative role of AI in healthcare. David, an MIT professor (on leave) and leading machine learning researcher, delves into how Layer Health addresses one of healthcare’s most persistent challenges: extracting actionable insights from unstructured medical data. In our conversation, David explains how Layer Health’s AI platform automates complex chart review tasks, tackles data generalization issues across diverse healthcare systems, and overcomes challenges like bias and dataset shifts. We explore Layer Health’s groundbreaking use of large language models (LLMs), the importance of scalable AI solutions, and the integration of AI into clinical workflows. Join us to discover how Layer Health is reducing administrative burdens, improving data accessibility, and shaping the future of AI-powered healthcare with David Sontag.
Key Points:
Quotes:
“Our vision for Layer Health is to transform healthcare with artificial intelligence, really building upon all of the work that we've been doing over the past decade in the AI and health field and academic space.” — David Sontag
“What we realized very quickly is that where [Layer Health] would have the biggest impact was bringing the right information to the physician's fingertips at the right point in time.” — David Sontag
“We're using large language models to drive the abstraction of those clinical variables that we need for these either retrospective or prospective use cases.” — David Sontag
“Where I think we're going to see the biggest source of bias is likely going to be not along the traditional demographic-related quantities, but rather on more clinical quantities.” — David Sontag
“A lot of the friction that we currently see in healthcare, [Layer Health] is going to really take a big bite out of [it].” — David Sontag
Links:
David Sontag
David Sontag on LinkedIn
Layer Health
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
How can advancements in biotechnology and machine learning lead to revolutionary treatments for age-related diseases? In this episode, I speak with Hanadie Yousef, CEO and Co-Founder of Juvena Therapeutics, to discuss her work on protein-based therapeutics. Hanadie, a neurobiologist specializing in aging and tissue degeneration, has pioneered research at Juvena to identify regenerative proteins that can restore tissue function and combat chronic diseases.
In our conversation, Hanadie details Juvena’s AI-driven platform that identifies, validates, and engineers protein candidates with therapeutic potential. We explore the power of machine learning models in drug discovery, the challenges of working with multi-omics data, and the potential for new treatments to revolutionize healthcare by targeting disease at the molecular level. Join us to hear how Juvena Therapeutics is setting a new standard in precision medicine aimed at helping individuals age with vitality.
Key Points:
Quotes:
“Juvena is part of really, a new approach to leveraging the biology of aging and underlying mechanisms associated with why our tissues decline in function, in order to target this biology so that we can treat a broad swath of diseases.” — Hanadie Yousef
“That's ultimately the goal of Juvena, to really enable people to age with dignity, to continue to contribute to society, and to really maintain their health until the very end.” — Hanadie Yousef
“Ultimately, [machine learning is] leveraged at every stage of the process from in silico prediction, and screening through to the actual engineering and drug development.” — Hanadie Yousef
“When it comes to wet lab data generation, sometimes you're really limited by just the quantity of data that you can generate.” — Hanadie Yousef
“AI isn't the solution to everything. Oftentimes, you do still want to have that human in the loop and really test the accuracy of these models.” — Hanadie Yousef
Links:
Hanadie Yousef on LinkedIn
Juvena Therapeutics
Juvena Therapeutics on LinkedIn
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
To succeed at an AI startup, you have to be able to show your work and its value. During this episode, I am joined by Brigham Hyde, Co-Founder and CEO of Atropos Health, to talk about his app that gathers real-world evidence for healthcare. He is an entrepreneur, operator, and investor who is deeply immersed in the potential of data and AI. Join us as he shares his journey to creating Atropos Health, why he believes AI is important for healthcare, and the potential it holds to bridge the evidence gap. We discuss how the lack of diversity in healthcare data has impacted patient outcomes leading up to this point and explore some of the methods Atropos uses to get the most out of machine learning. We discuss the AI data-gathering process, how each setup is validated and adapted, and how he measures the impact of his technology. In closing, he shares advice for other leaders of AI-powered startups and offers his vision for the future impact of Atropos.
Key Points:
Quotes:
“At Atropos, we focus on the automation and generation of high-quality real-world evidence to support clinical decision-making with the dream of creating personalized evidence for everyone.” — Brigham Hyde
“We see the role of real-world evidence and observational research as a great way to supplement that gap.” — Brigham Hyde
“It's our ability to create that evidence, transparently show you the populations that are being used and the bias that is involved, and the techniques to remove that bias that are the key.” — Brigham Hyde
“You've got to be able to show how what you're doing works, that it's not biased, and that it's applicable to the health system you're working with, and it's got to be done in extremely high quality.” — Brigham Hyde
Links:
Brigham Hyde on LinkedIn
Brigham Hyde on X
Atropos Health
Atropos Health on LinkedIn
Atropos Health on X
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
As machine learning becomes increasingly widespread, AI holds the potential to revolutionize drug development, making it faster, safer, and more affordable than ever. In this episode, I'm joined by Jo Varshney, Founder and CEO of VeriSIM Life, to explore how her company is transforming drug translation through hybrid AI.
With her unique blend of expertise as a veterinarian and computer scientist, Jo leverages biology, chemistry, and machine learning knowledge to tackle the translational gap between animal models and human patients. You’ll learn about VeriSIM Life’s innovative approach to overcoming data limitations, synthesizing new data, and applying ML models tailored to various diseases, from rare conditions to neurological disorders. Jo also reveals VeriSIM’s unique translational index score, a tool that predicts clinical trial success rates and helps pharma companies identify promising drugs early and avoid costly failures.
For anyone curious about the future of AI in healthcare, this episode offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of biotech innovation. To discover how VeriSIM Life’s technology is poised to bring life-saving treatments to patients faster and more safely than ever before, be sure to tune in today!
Key Points:
Quotes:
“[Hybrid AI] helps us not only unravel newer methods and mechanisms of actions or novel targets but also helps us identify better drug candidates that could eventually be safer and more effective in human patients.” — Jo Varshney
“Biology is complex. We need to understand it enough to create a codified version of that biology.” — Jo Varshney
“If you're just using machine learning-based methods, you may not get the right features to see the accuracy that you would see with the hybrid AI approach that we take.” — Jo Varshney
“Focus on validation and showing some real-world outcomes [rather than] just building the marketing outcome because, ultimately, we want it to get to the patients. We want to know if the technology really works. If it doesn't work, you can still pivot.” — Jo Varshney
Links:
VeriSIM Life
Jo Varshney on LinkedIn
Jo Varshney on X
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
Today’s guest believes that decoding the immune system is at the heart of improving drug efficacy. He is currently focused on this effort as the CEO and Co-founder of Immunai – a company that is building an AI model of the immune system to facilitate the development of next-generation immunomodulatory therapeutics. Noam Solomon begins our conversation by detailing his professional history and how it led to Immunai before explaining what Immunai does and why this work is vital for healthcare. Then, we discover how understanding the immune system will help to improve how drugs work in our bodies, how the team at Immunai accomplishes its goals, the major challenges of working with complex ML models, and some helpful recommendations for processing the high-dimensional nature of biological data. Noam also explains the collaborative landscape of Immunai, how the evolution of technology made his work possible, Immunai’s plans for the future, and his advice to others on a similar career path.
Key Points:
Quotes:
“First, let’s talk about the problem, which is today, getting a drug from IND approval to FDA approval—which is the process of doing clinical trials—has less than a 10% chance of success, usually about a 5% chance, takes more than 10 years, and more than $2 billion of open immune therapy.” — Noam Solomon
“Different people respond differently to the same drug, and the reason they respond differently is because their immune system is different.” — Noam Solomon
“You first need to fall in love with the problems. Many ML people—physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists—we love building models; we love solving puzzles. In biology, you need to really fall in love with the question you are trying to answer.” — Noam Solomon
“It’s a great decade for biology.” — Noam Solomon
Links:
Noam Solomon on LinkedIn
Noam Solomon on X
Immunai
Resources for Computer Vision Teams:
LinkedIn – Connect with Heather.
Computer Vision Insights Newsletter – A biweekly newsletter to help bring the latest machine learning and computer vision research to applications in people and planetary health.
Computer Vision Strategy Session – Not sure how to advance your computer vision project? Get unstuck with a clear set of next steps. Schedule a 1 hour strategy session now to advance your project.
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