Fighting Infections with Genomics and AI: Precision Medicine with Dr. Niamh O'Hara | Ep. 7
From DTA Science · 01:00:40
Show by DTA Science
Down to a Science is presented by Galang AI. The views expressed by guests are their own, and guest participation does not constitute endorsement of Galang AI or its products or services.In Episode 7, Dr. Niamh O'Hara, CEO and co-founder of Biotia, joins Kevin G. Libuit to talk about bringing precision medicine to infectious disease. Many infections are still diagnosed by growing a sample in a petri dish, a method that dates back to the 1800s. Niamh explains how Biotia uses DNA sequencing and machine learning to identify infections that culture can miss.Kevin and Niamh discuss her path from PhD to founder through Cornell Tech's Runway Startup Postdoc Program, why culture-negative infections and chronic UTIs can leave patients on rounds of blind antibiotics, and what it took to build and validate a clinical lab in New York. They also get into why Biotia relies on predictable machine learning models that regulators can trust, the long road from an approved test to insurance coverage, and why paying for pathogen surveillance remains so hard. They close aboard the International Space Station, where Niamh's work with NASA has identified microbes that appear to be adapting to spaceflight, and how diagnostics built for space could help remote clinics on Earth.Show Notes: https://dtascience.com/episodes/episode-7Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: 2ABVRZT155WBCFJXChapters00:00 Why regulated diagnostics need predictable AI00:34 Meet Dr. Niamh O'Hara02:11 From PhD to founder through Cornell Tech07:49 Why a PhD is good startup training09:38 Biotia's mission: precision medicine for infections11:27 When the petri dish comes back negative12:26 Chronic UTIs and patients left behind14:40 How sequencing finds what culture misses16:33 Building a clinical lab in New York19:32 How Biotia uses machine learning22:27 Not the scary AI: same input, same output24:29 From approved test to insurance coverage28:25 Why insurers want studies in specific patients30:10 Expanding to prosthetic joint infections31:42 Steelmanning the insurers34:55 Clinical proof from culture-negative patients37:45 Biosurveillance: who pays for it?44:32 Why wastewater sequencing matters46:35 What's the moat?47:50 Patent and publish: IP vs. open science49:18 Competitors on Earth, collaborators in space51:18 Diagnosing astronauts during spaceflight54:34 Space diagnostics for remote clinics on Earth57:48 Taking Biotia international1:00:04 Where to follow Niamh and Biotia
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