The Cutting Edge
Academic and industry visionaries share their views and their work at the cutting-edge of innovation and discovery.
The Cutting Edge

Advances in new computational tools are generating novel data modalities and higher resolution data. These data, along with rapid advances in algorithms and large-scale computing, are driving the creation of ever more comprehensive models of disease, disease progression, and health at both the individual level and the population level.

Click below to read the full interviews with some leading researchers in the industry, including news, lessons, and insights.

How to grow a biomed startup: The role of biobanks and open-source process development
Matt Brauer
Matt Brauer
Biobanks offer a rich source of data for biomed startups, but the route to deriving maximum benefit from them is not always straightforward. We talk to Matt Brauer, Vice President of Data Science at Maze Therapeutics, about his experience with the UK Biobank, Finngen and other consortia, and the role that making data-management processes open-source has had in delivering business success.
FULL ARTICLE
Thirty years in genetics – A perspective from Brazil
Lygia Pereira
Lygia Pereira
The course of academic research rarely runs smoothly, and through her 30-year career in genetics, Professor Lygia V. Pereira has certainly seen plenty of challenges – but also lots of successes. We talk to her about the importance of genetic diversity to better serve the health needs of countries like Brazil but also to improve our understanding of disease and health across all populations, and why we need to make bioinformatics tools truly user-friendly.
FULL ARTICLE
Network science: big data, strong connections, powerful possibilities
Dr. Ahmed Hamed
Dr. Ahmed Hamed
In the latest interview in our cutting-edge series, Ahmed Abdeen Hamed, Assistant Professor of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Norwich University, explains the power of network sciences to solve intractable data analysis problems and why this approach is proving valuable in the medical sciences.
FULL ARTICLE
Tackling complexity: making sense of genomic data
Dr. John Quackenbush
Dr. John Quackenbush
We’re talking to Professor John Quackenbush from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who throughout his 30-year career has addressed big questions in ...
FULL ARTICLE
The role of computational biology in drug discovery: an inside perspective
Dr. David DeGraaf
Dr. David DeGraaf
We spoke to Dr. David De Graaf, CEO of biotech company, Abcuro, on the issue of data flow for pharma companies, as well as the different ways that he can see computational tools making a big difference in drug discovery.
FULL ARTICLE
The evolution of computational genomics: solving bioinformatics challenges
Dr. Martin Hemberg
Dr. Martin Hemberg
Here Dr. Martin Hemberg, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Member of the Faculty, Harvard Medical School, envisions a future in which bioinformatics challenges are continually being solved to deal with the ever-increasing volume of data that is being produced.
FULL ARTICLE