Science in Real Time (ScienceIRT)

In this episode of Science in Real Time, host Carli Reyes sits down with Lead Molecular Biologist, Dr. Magdalena Otrocka and Lead Data Scientist, Dr. Adriana Borowa from Ardigen to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the way scientists interpret phenotypic data. Together, they discuss the scientific challenges that inspired Ardigen phenAID, the importance of interpretability and trust in AI-driven biology, and how human expertise and machine intelligence can work together to reveal patterns that might otherwise remain hidden.

What You'll Hear:

• From Data Overload to Biological Insight – The scientific challenges that led to the development of Ardigen phenAID and why traditional approaches often struggle with complex phenotypic datasets.
• Rethinking Phenotypic Analysis with AI – How Ardigen phenAID helps researchers extract meaningful biological information from imaging and phenotypic data without relying on black-box decision-making.
• Trust, Transparency & Scientific Confidence – Why interpretability was a core design principle and how the team ensures AI-generated insights remain biologically relevant and actionable.
• When AI Challenges Assumptions – Examples of how AI-driven analysis can reveal unexpected phenotypes and generate new scientific hypotheses.
• Human Expertise Meets Machine Intelligence – The collaborative process behind building Ardigen phenAID and the lessons learned while bringing AI into real-world research workflows.
• The Future of Phenotypic Discovery – Where the guests see the greatest opportunities for AI in drug discovery and what excites them most about the next generation of phenotypic research. 

🌐 Explore & Connect

Learn more about Ardigen phenAID and discover how AI-powered phenotypic analysis is helping researchers uncover deeper biological insights and accelerate drug discovery.

Have an idea for a topic or guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you!
Connect with us on the ScienceIRT website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a colleague interested in the future of imaging, AI, and drug discovery.

🔗 Links

•  Science in Real Time: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/
•  Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
•  Ardigen: https://ardigen.com/
•  Ardigen phenAID: https://ardigen.com/phenotypic-profiling-ardigen-phenaid/
•  Dr. Magdalena Otrocka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/magdalena-otrocka/
•  Dr. Adriana Borowa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriana-borowa/?locale=en
• Society of Biomolecular Imaging and Informatics (SBI2) Premier European Conference: https://sbi2.org/ 

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In this episode of Science in Real Time, host Carli Reyes sits down with Dr. Timothy P. Spicer, Director of Assay Development & Screening at the The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, to explore how high-content screening, phenotypic discovery, and advanced imaging are reshaping modern drug discovery. Drawing on decades of experience at the forefront of translational science, Dr. Spicer shares how the field has evolved beyond traditional screening toward data-rich, image-driven approaches that unlock deeper biological understanding.

What You’ll Hear:

• From Screening to Systems-Level Insight – Dr. Spicer’s journey through the evolution of assay development and how high-content approaches have transformed discovery.
• Defining High-Content Today – what “high-content screening” really means now—and how it’s changed over the last decade.
• Phenotypes as Decision Drivers – why phenotypic screening is resurging and how imaging enables teams to embrace biological complexity.
• AI, Automation & Reality vs Hype – where machine learning is truly impactful in imaging workflows—and where expectations still outpace reality.
• Collaboration as a Catalyst – how partnerships between academia, biotech, and technology platforms accelerate innovation.
• The Next Inflection Point – Dr. Spicer’s perspective on what the next 5–10 years of high-content screening will unlock.

🌐 Explore & Connect
Learn more about Dr. Tim Spicer’s work at UF Scripps and how advances in high-content screening and imaging are accelerating phenotypic discovery.

Have an idea for a topic or guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you!
Connect with us on the ScienceIRT website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a colleague interested in the future of imaging, AI, and drug discovery.

🔗 Links

• Science in Real Time: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• Dr. Tim Spicer’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-spicer-5786943/ 
• UF Scripps Institute: https://wertheim.scripps.ufl.edu/
• Dr. Tim Spicer's Contact Information: https://wertheim.scripps.ufl.edu/profile/spicer-timothy/ 
• Dr. Tim Spicer's publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Spicer+TP&cauthor_id=39159824 

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In this episode of Science in Real Time, host Carli Reyes sits down with Dr. Claudia McCown, a leader in high-content screening and phenotypic discovery, to explore how imaging, automation, and AI are transforming modern drug discovery. Drawing on her work at The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Dr. McCown shares how the field is evolving from traditional high-throughput screening to data-rich, image-based approaches that reveal deeper biological insight.

What You’ll Hear:

• From Throughput to Insight – Dr. McCown’s journey from classical screening approaches to high-content, image-based discovery.
• Phenotypes at Scale – how high-content screening captures complex cellular behaviors that traditional assays miss.
• AI Meets Imaging – the role of automation and machine learning in accelerating and refining biological analysis.
• Collaboration Across Disciplines – lessons from bridging academia, biotech, and technology platforms like Araceli’s Endeavor.
• The Future of Discovery – how integrated workflows will reshape drug discovery and empower the next generation of scientists.

🌐 Explore & Connect
Learn more about Dr. Claudia McCown’s work in high-content screening at UF Scripps and how collaborations with Araceli Biosciences are advancing phenotypic discovery.

Have an idea for a topic or guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you!
Connect with us on the ScienceIRT website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a colleague interested in the future of imaging, AI, and drug discovery.

🔗 Links

• Science in Real Time: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• Victoria Arinella (UF Scripps Intern): https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-arinella/
• Dr. Claudia McCown's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-mccown-biochem/ 
• Dr. Claudia McCown's publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=McCown+C&cauthor_id=40816642
• UF Scripps Institute: https://www.scripps.edu/florida/

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In this episode of Science in Real Time, host Carli Reyes sits down with Dr. Reese Findley, Senior Scientists at ViQi, to explore how machine learning is transforming the way we interpret complex biological systems. Drawing on her background in neuroscience and behavioral research, Dr. Findley shares how her work uncovering hidden behavioral states in animal models evolved into designing AI frameworks that detect subtle, high-dimensional cellular phenotypes in imaging data. 

What You’ll Hear:

• From Brains to Biology – Dr. Findley’s journey from neuroscience and behavior research into AI-driven cell imaging.
• Hidden Phenotypes Revealed – how machine learning models uncover patterns in cellular data that traditional analysis may miss.
• Making AI Interpretable – why transparency and collaboration are essential for building trust between computational and experimental teams.
• Women in AI & Science – mentorship, resilience, and navigating interdisciplinary career paths.
• The Future of AI in Discovery – opportunities, ethical responsibilities, and how emerging scientists can prepare for a data-driven era of biology.

🌐 Explore & Connect
Learn more about Dr. Reese Findley and her work at ViQi, and explore how AI-powered imaging is accelerating biological insight.

Have an idea for a topic or guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you!
Connect with us on the ScienceIRT website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a colleague who’s curious about how AI is reshaping cell biology and drug discovery.

🔗 Links

• Science in Real Time: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• ViQi, Inc.: https://www.linkedin.com/company/viqi-inc/  
• Dr. Reese Findley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresa-findley15/ 

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In this episode of Science in Real Time, host Carli Reyes sits down with Dr. Kirk Malloy, Founder and Principal of BioAdvisors, LLC, to unpack what it truly takes to build, scale, and lead life science companies through periods of rapid innovation. Drawing on decades of leadership experience at companies like Illumina, Biosite, QIAGEN, and Verogen, Dr. Malloy shares hard-earned lessons on aligning scientific vision with strategic execution — and why leadership mindset matters more than ever in today’s data-driven discovery landscape.

What You’ll Hear:

• A Leadership Journey Across Biotech – Dr. Malloy’s path through some of the most transformative companies in life sciences.
• Scaling with Intention – the strategic decisions that enable sustainable growth without losing scientific focus.
• Aligning Vision and Strategy – how leaders can bridge R&D, commercial teams, and long-term company direction.
• The Future of Discovery Workflows – where AI, imaging, and automation are creating real differentiation.
• Leadership for the Next Era – advice for emerging leaders navigating complexity in modern biotech.

🌐 Explore & Connect
Learn more about Dr. Kirk Malloy and his work at BioAdvisors, LLC, and explore how leadership and strategy continue to shape innovation across the life sciences.

Have an idea for a topic or guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you!
Connect with us at the ScienceIRT website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a colleague who’s thinking about the future of discovery, leadership, and innovation in biotech!

🔗 Links

• Science in Real Time: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• BioAdvisors, LLC: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkmalloy
• Dr. Kirk Malloy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkmalloy 
• Dr. Kirk Malloy's email: [email protected] 

Copyright Music by: Scientific "How it Goes"

In this episode of Science in Real Time, host Carli Reyes brings listeners a behind-the-scenes recap of SBI2 2025, the premier conference for quantitative imaging, high-content screening, and bioinformatics. Carli breaks down the biggest scientific trends shaping the future of imaging—from foundation models and AI-driven analysis to multi-omics integration and next-generation 3D model systems.

This fast-paced, insight-rich episode dives into the keynotes, workshops, posters, and technology showcases that defined the meeting, while highlighting standout contributions from the Araceli Biosciences team. If you work in phenotypic screening, cell imaging, computational biology, or drug discovery, this recap distills what you need to know!

🎧 What You’ll Hear:

• Why SBI2 matters for the future of quantitative imaging 
• Top trends in Bioimaging: deep learning, reproducibility & cloud pipelines 
• Araceli Biosciences highlights at SBI2, including:

Victoria Arinella (UF Scripps) — improving assay reproducibility through automated image quality metrics.
Dr. Claudia McCown (UF Scripps) — advancing collaborative imaging and multi-site data workflows.
Conference reflections from Dr. Kristin Halfpenny, emphasizing the convergence of AI, 3D biology, imaging automation, and analytics.

• Multi-omics + imaging = The next big leap
• What makes SBI2 a unique scientific community
• What’s next in imaging: AI integration, 3D models & automation

🌐 Explore & Connect:
Learn more about SBI2, ScienceIRT and Araceli Biosciences at: 

• Science in Real Time Podcast Webpage
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn
• Society of Biomolecular Imaging & Informatics (SBI2) Website 

Got an idea for a topic or a guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you!
Connect with us at our ScienceIRT Website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with a colleague who’s just as passionate about shaping the future of biotech as you are!

🔗 Links: 

• Science in Real Time: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• Society of Biomolecular Imaging & Informatics (SBI2): https://www.sbi2.org/

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In this episode of Science in Real Time, host Carli Reyes sits down with Dr. Tarun Vemulkar, CTO and Co-Founder of Semarion, to explore how their groundbreaking SemaCyte® platform is reshaping the way scientists handle, study, and analyze cells. They dive into the intersection of materials science and cell biology, unpacking how Semarion’s smart materials enable faster, more reproducible cell-based assays — ultimately accelerating the path from discovery to therapy.

What You’ll Hear:

• The Origins of Semarion – how the team spun out to solve long-standing challenges in cell handling.
• The SemaCyte® Platform Explained – how controllable microcarriers enable miniaturized, high-precision cell assays.
• Bridging Materials Science and Biology – how Semarion’s interdisciplinary approach is unlocking new efficiencies in drug discovery workflows.
• Real-World Applications – use cases for pharma, biotech, and academia in streamlining screening and model validation.
• Looking Ahead – where Semarion sees the future of smart materials and how they’re scaling their impact across the life sciences ecosystem.

🌐 Explore & Connect

Learn more about Semarion and the SemaCyte® platform on their website or LinkedIn. 

Got an idea for a topic or a guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you!
Connect with us at our ScienceIRT Website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with a colleague who’s just as passionate about shaping the future of biotech as you are!

🔗 Links

• Science in Real Time: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• Semarion Website: http://www.semarion.com/ 
• Semarion LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/company/semarion

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In this Molecule Talk episode, host Carli Reyes explores CellCLIP, a provocative new approach at the intersection of high-content imaging and AI. Based on a June 2025 preprint, CellCLIP attempts to link Cell Painting images with natural language descriptions of perturbations, making cellular data more interpretable, searchable, and useful across disciplines. While still preliminary and not yet peer-reviewed, the idea has the potential to transform how scientists connect cell morphology with biological concepts.

What You’ll Hear:

• Cell Painting 101 — how high-content imaging creates “morphological fingerprints” of cells, and why these fingerprints are powerful but hard to interpret.
• The CellCLIP idea — adapting the CLIP model from computer vision to align cell images with text descriptions like drug names, pathways, or gene knockouts.
• Proof-of-concept results — retrieval tests, mechanism-of-action classification, and generalization across genetic and chemical perturbations.
• Why it matters — from improving interpretability to enabling cross-modal integration of biology, and even accelerating drug discovery.
• Open questions — how well CellCLIP handles unseen drugs, whether it learns biology vs. memorization, and how it will scale to massive datasets like JUMP-Cell Painting.

Together, these insights highlight a shift toward bridging cell biology and natural language — creating tools that could help scientists move from abstract image features to intuitive, actionable biological concepts.

Got an idea for a topic or guest you’d love to hear on Molecule Talk? We’d love to hear from you!
Connect with us at our ScienceIRT Website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences. 

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with a colleague who’s just as passionate about shaping the future of biotech as you are!

🔗 Explore & Connect

• Science in Real Time Website: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/ 
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• Twitter/X: @AraceliBio
• Instagram: @ScienceIRT_AraceliBio
• TikTok: @ScienceIRT_AraceliBio

References:

• Mingyu Lu, Ethan Weinberger, Chanwoo Kim, Su-In Lee(2025). CellCLIP: Learning perturbation effects in cell painting via text-guided contrastive learning. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06290 (PREPRINT)

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In this month’s Funding Focus, host Carli Reyes unpacks the deals, policies, and investments shaping the future of biotech and drug discovery. From billion-dollar pharma bets to government-backed strategies, we explore how capital is accelerating science on a global scale.

What you'll hear:

• Novo Nordisk’s $550M partnership with Replicate Bioscience to advance self-replicating RNA therapies.
• The UK’s £1.12B industrial strategy to position Britain as Europe’s biotech hub by 2030.
• Phenomic AI’s $20M Series A, fueling the convergence of imaging and AI in oncology drug discovery.
• The bigger picture: how public and private funding are converging into a global biotech ecosystem.

We'll also share behind-the-scenes context and a look ahead at September — from the next wave of AI-biotech partnerships to new government R&D packages that could reshape where startups take root.

Got an idea for a topic or a guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you! 

Connect with us at our ScienceIRT Website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences. 

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with a colleague who’s just as passionate about shaping the future of biotech as you are!

🔗 Explore & Connect

• Science in Real Time Website: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/ 
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• Twitter/X: @AraceliBio
• Instagram: @ScienceIRT_AraceliBio
• TikTok: @ScienceIRT_AraceliBio

🔗 References:

• Novo Nordisk & Replicate Bioscience partnership: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/novo-nordisk-seeks-new-obesity-diabetes-drugs-with-replicate-bioscience-2025-08-28/
• UK Life Sciences Industrial Strategy: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/biotech-growths-missing-link-appetite-for-risk-09q8zt0qw
• Phenomic AI $20M Series A: https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/funding-roundup-phenomic-ai-20m-series-a

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In this BioScope episode, host Carli Reyes takes you inside four groundbreaking stories that show how discovery science is evolving from proof-of-concept experiments to predictive, life-like models of human biology. From organoids that grow at the pace of a developing fetus to AI systems that simulate entire cells, this episode reveals how scientists are pushing past traditional limits and creating tools that make biology more realistic, scalable, and powerful.

What You’ll Hear:

• Kidney organoids on a human timeline — the first fetal kidney models that grow step by step over nine months, opening new windows into birth defects, prenatal gene programs, and drug safety during pregnancy.
• “Minibrains” with a twist — immune cells called microglia aren’t just cleaning up, but actively building neural circuits, reshaping how we think about brain development and disorders.
• CellForge AI — a multi-agent AI that builds predictive “virtual cells” you can experiment on in silico, accelerating discovery while reducing reliance on costly lab experiments.
• Vascularized organoids — mini-hearts and mini-livers sprouting branching blood vessels, finally overcoming a major barrier in organoid research and bringing drug testing and personalized medicine closer to reality.

Together, these stories highlight the convergence of stem cell science, high-content imaging, and AI — a new era where we don’t just observe biology, but predict and design it.

Got an idea for a topic or a guest you’d love to hear on Science in Real Time? We’d love to hear from you! 

Connect with us at our ScienceIRT Website or on LinkedIn: Araceli Biosciences. 

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with a colleague who’s just as passionate about shaping the future of biotech as you are!

🔗 Explore & Connect

• Science in Real Time Website: https://www.aracelibio.com/science-irt-podcast-biology-big-data/ 
• Araceli Biosciences LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/araceli-biosciences/
• Twitter/X: @AraceliBio
• Instagram: @ScienceIRT_AraceliBio
• TikTok: @ScienceIRT_AraceliBio

References:

Kidney Organoids

• Namestnikov, M., Cohen-Zontag, O., Omer, D., Gnatek, Y., Goldberg, S., Vincent, T., Singh, S., Shiber, Y., Yehudai, T. R., Volkov, H., Genet, D. F., Urbach, A., Polak-Charcon, S., Grinberg, I., Pode-Shakked, N., Weisz, B., Vaknin, Z., Freedman, B. S., & Dekel, B. (2025). Human fetal kidney organoids model early human nephrogenesis and Notch-driven cell fate. The EMBO Journal, 44(14), e00504. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44318-025-00504-2
• Reuters. (2025, August 20). Health Rounds: Human fetal kidney development mimicked in test tubes. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/health-rounds-human‑fetal‑kidney‑development‑mimicked‑test‑tubes‑2025‑08‑20/

Minibrains & Microglia

• Yu, D., Jain, S., Wangzhou, A., Zhu, B., Shao, W., Coley-O’Rourke, E. J., De Florencio, S., Kim, J., Choi, J. J., Paredes, M. F., Nowakowski, T. J., Huang, E. J., & Piao, X. (2025, August 6). Microglia regulate GABAergic neurogenesis in prenatal human brain through IGF1. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08958-5
• Lanese, N. (2025, August 24). 'Minibrains' reveal secrets of how key brain cells form in the womb. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/health/neuroscience/minibrains-reveal-secrets-of-how-key-brain-cells-form-in-the-womb?utm_source=chatgpt.com

CellForge AI

• Tang, X., Yu, Z., Chen, J., Cui, Y., Shao, D., Wang, W., Wu, F., Zhuang, Y., Shi, W., Huang, Z., Cohan, A., Lin, X., Theis, F., Krishnaswamy, S., & Gerstein, M. (2025, August 4). CellForge: Agentic design of virtual cell models. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.02276  
• GitHub — CellForge code repository (https://github.com/gersteinlab/CellForge) 

Heart Organoids with Vessels

• Abilez, O. J., Yang, H., Guan, Y., Shen, M., Yildirim, Z., Zhuge, Y., Venkateshappa, R., Zhao, S. R., Gomez, A. H., El-Mokahal, M., Dunkenberger, L., Ono, Y., Shibata, M., Nwokoye, P. N., Tian, L., Wilson, K. D., Lyall, E. H., Jia, F., Wo, H. T., Zhou, G., Aldana, B., Karakikes, I., Obal, D., Peltz, G., Zarins, C. K., & Wu, J. C. (2025, June 5). Gastruloids enable modeling of the earliest stages of human cardiac and hepatic vascularization. Science, 388(6751), eadu9375. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adu9375
• Bai, N. (2025, June 5). How a Stanford breakthrough in lab-grown mini-hearts could change medical research. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/heart-organoid-medicine-drug-discovery-research-20357811.php?utm_source=chatgpt.com

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