Celbridge Science
Streamlining Bioinformatics with the Capabilities of AI

Application of AI and machine learning in research such as DNA sequencing and protein remote homology detection has led to groundbreaking discoveries in Bioinformatics. However, many organizations in the space are still falling short on leveraging these augmented analysis technologies to their full potential. Some research establishments are set on utilizing pre-set methodologies and research protocols to serve clients with different individual needs. Various scientists and research scholars perform manual analytical research, leading to significant loss of time and resources. To this end, Celbridge Science positions itself as an analytic solution provider that leverages AI and machine learning to provide a customized platform that caters to their clients’ individual research needs.

In an interview with CIOApplications, Patrick R. Hogan, CEO of Celbridge Science, tells us how their solutions utilize AI and ML to develop analytic solutions custom-made for various research organizations.

Could you elaborate more on Celbridge Science, and how it leverages AI and ML for analytic solutions in the bioinformatics space?

We have established ourselves as a complete analytics solution provider we assist our clients in creating an ecosystem of scientific research tools with our data platform as the epicentre. Data today is an integral part of the operations of scientific organizations and the Celbridge Science Platform enables our clients to become more data-centric organizations. We utilize our data skills and Platform to help our customers create an end-to-end environment where we integrate our tools within their business operations and subsequently improve their research capabilities. The Celbridge Science Platform allows our clients to utilize computational methods in their new drug research to analyse the spatial structures of a target molecule such as a disease-causing protein. The researcher can then use the Platform to search public data for a prior experiment addressing this protein. Our mission is to understand a client’s research needs and tailor our Platform to work seamlessly in their environment. Our tools and Platform allow us to nimbly accelerate scientific research.

Please elaborate more on your approach to catering to clients?

Scientific research, by necessity, is a complicated process. Many companies force clients to use their processes to align research to their toolsets. In our view, this compromises the clients research process by forcing them to align with a foreign protocol. We find it is the uniqueness &passion of the research organization that makes them successful and our Platform is designed to enhance their capabilities. We entered the market with a belief that cut-and-dried cookie-cutter analytic modality is not the right way for science. Our people and processes are very focused on identifying and harvesting the competitive edge that each organization has.

The Celbridge Science Platform can then play to that strength especially in the integration functionality as each establishment’s research environment can be different. It is imperative for Celbridge Science to understand the customers’ pain-point and address them before we deliver a solution, and we do just that.

What are the major challenges that bioinformatics companies face and how Celbridge Science address those?

We see data management challenges across every size customer in the Bioinformatics space. Our organizational mission is accelerating scientific discovery through analytics. We never approach our customers challenge strictly from the lens of a technology provider. We observe the client’s staff and the existing processes that aid them in research. Depending on the client’s maturity, we provide them the tools needed to advance their capabilities.

Could you elaborate more on how clients can go up and running with your solutions?

The Celbridge Science Platform is a cloud-based solution that allows us to integrate the offering with an environment that fits with our customers. We invested extensive time working on an API to connect with all the major Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) systems. We’re also connected to various research databases that allow users to find research and execute their custom pathways. Our toolset has analytic capability that enables researchers to experiment with an insilico process and our platform can be executed and go live in hours rather than days.

Could you provide a customer success story that you’ve had in the recent past?

One of our most successful projects was a large CRO (Contract Research Organization). The company wished to design a scientific data environment and integrate it with their ERP. The challenge in this project was to manage the rollout of an ERP in concert with a digitalization of their research methods. That way, they could inject and collect data in every step of their journey. This is because they needed to make sure their experiments were linked to the process of invoicing customers for each experiment executed. It was a unique case study of delivering an analytics solution that scientists could use and be completely connected to the whole business. It was an excellent experience to bring data and business management together to create a successful solution. In the end, the CRO was successful in making significant ROI improvements to their core business capabilities while enhancing their managed scientific teams.

Could you tell our readers about your team and how they helped Celbridge Science stay ahead of the competition?

I think that the Celbridge Science team is attracted to our organization due to our desire to create innovation and transformation. We consider our analytic tool as one step in the innovation pathway. Our resources and colleagues are focused on contributing to scientific research with the idea of being a facilitator. A common bond that we all share is the realization that we are just conduits for our customers, and our goal is to accelerate their research. We believe that anything we can do to make a scientific researcher’s job easier and faster will pay significant dividends down the road.

What do you envision about for the next 12-18 months in your company? What is the next step for Celbridge Science?
In an era of diminished funding from the National Institutes of Health a new research paradigm has appeared with venture funds & business incubators supporting the launch of hundreds of new pharmaceutical &startup research organizations. Celbridge Science’s goal is to be the analytic expert that these startups turn to. We have found that these enterprises are very interested in creating new processes that emphasis the analytical necessity of disciplined research. As these organizations do not have hundreds of researchers their efforts must be more precise and disciplined. The Celbridge Science Platform is a perfect fit for their needs.