TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | j u n e 2 0 1 4 13 topological data analysis to problems of interest within the U.S. government. Based on the success of these efforts, Carlsson, in conjunction with two other Stanford mathematicians, Gurjeet Singh, Ph.D., and Harlan Sexton, Ph.D., founded Ayasdi in 2008. This past January, the medical center and Ayasdi conducted a data analysis "boot camp," where data scien- tists and researchers from around the medical center were introduced to the Ayasdi topological data analysis plat- form. The boot camp was the first step taken to introduce the Ayasdi software to the member institutions. "Ayasdi offers an innovative technology that demonstrates new relationships in data that might other- wise go unnoticed," said Paul Klotman, M.D., president and chief executive officer at Baylor College of Medicine. "It further enhances our ability to convert complex medical data into actionable knowledge." The goal of the training session was to entice research teams in the medi- cal center to submit project ideas that would be considered for sponsorship on the Ayasdi platform. With sponsorship, teams would have access to the knowl- edge and experience of the award win- ning Ayasdi data science team to assist in the analysis of their data. Drawn from a pool of 12 submissions from various member institutions, three teams have been awarded the full support of the Ayasdi research team. Andrew Futreal, Ph.D., a professor of Genomic Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, describes the goal of his study as, "discovering key patient-centric 'fac- tors' that impact outcome." Futreal's study will be conducted with the help of Joseph Petrosino, Ph.D., assistant professor of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine. Alok Madan, Ph.D., MPH and his team were selected for their research among adult and adolescent psychiatric patients during and after hospitalization, a collaborative effort between The Menninger Clinic and Baylor. Erik Boerwinkle, Ph.D., professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and his team were also selected for their work on whole genome sequence analysis of cardiometabolic phenotypes, an effort to understand the genetic basis of health and disease. The remaining submissions that were not selected for sponsorship will also have access to Ayasdi's software, with the support of Texas Medical Center's in-house data scientist, equip- ping them to make significant strides in their areas of research. Deriving knowledge from data with a non-biased, fact-based approach will be critical to allowing the medical center and its member institutions to leverage a greater quantity of their data to solve difficult and disparate problems. "We're honored to work with a world-class organization like Texas Medical Center to target some of the most challenging diseases and condi- tions and to accelerate breakthroughs in health care and life sciences," said Gurjeet Singh, co-founder and CEO at Ayasdi. "We are excited to enable TMC with a new approach to discover knowl- edge about leukemia, heart disease, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and many more." This past May, Ayasdi stood head and shoulders above the competition as the grand prize winner of both awards at Bio-IT World 2014, where more than a hundred companies set up booths to showcase the myriad applications of IT and informatics to biomedical research and the drug discovery enterprise. They were the only company to be recog- nized for both an innovative solution, Ayasdi Cure, and for that solution's key role in a breakthrough medical discov- ery. The new Ayasdi Cure application is designed to help pharmaceutical and biotech companies accelerate the drug discovery process. "Texas Medical Center is entering a new era in our evolution where mem- ber institutions are exchanging ideas and sharing insights and resources to accelerate discovery to advance care," concluded Robert C. Robbins, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Texas Medical Center. "Specifically, we're focused on five areas—health policy, stem-cell research, clinical trials, genomics and innovation—and data is the key to revolutionizing all of them." TOP: Gunnar Carlsson, Ph.D. BOTTOM: From left to right—Gurjeet Singh, Ph.D., Gunnar Carlsson, Ph.D., and Harlan Sexton, Ph.D., founded Ayasdi in 2008 to commercialize their research in topological data analysis. the idea is to visualize the data in order to see the whole statistical landscape, generating questions accordingly. it's the Jeopardy method of data analysis: answers first. — gunnar carlSSon, Ph.d. co-founder of ayasdi and professor of Mathematics at stanford university

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