Braidwell

We're excited to share that Nick Myerberg, Partner and Head of Artificial Intelligence and Technology, has been selected for the inaugural class of The Aspen Institute's Technology Leaders Initiative (TLI), joining a group of senior technology leaders from across the world to explore key leadership questions defining this era of technology.   Over the next two years, Fellows will engage in sustained dialogue on the responsibilities that come with building and deploying frontier technology across AI, biotech, quantum computing, energy infrastructure, and digital governance.   We are excited to watch the impact that this group will have.   #AIxBIO #TechnologyLeadersInitiative #AspenInstitute Aspen Global Leadership Network

We recently celebrated America’s 250th anniversary. Over the last 6 months, we have been exploring America’s role in advancing global human health: 25 innovations in 250 years. That exploration of 25 for 250 can now be found in the website linked here: https://lnkd.in/ePXVi3rk I started this journey of study with a broad, but loose, appreciation for the contributions this country has made to healthcare - anecdotes I have seen in my lifetime or was taught in school. It has been a true joy to encounter new characters, chapters, and lessons from the incredible story of this country’s contribution to human health. Some specific observations that 25 for 250 sharpened for me: Simply put, there is and has been near universal agreement that a healthier world is a better world.  Because of this belief, we see patterns of cooperation and innovation that transcend the boundaries of geopolitics and disciplines and look beyond expectations of near-term reward. Of course, the how is a layered topic involving individuals, communities, national, and global health.  In studying American Healthcare Innovation, we found questions of monetization, ownership, access, and ethics have been core to the field for at least as far back as we have studied.  Many generations have tried hard to innovate in a direction that creates broad benefits.  All generations have done it imperfectly. Finally, pioneers in human health come from all walks of life.  George Washington, Alexander Fleming, Bob Swanson, George W. Bush, and Francis Collins MD PhD were just a few of the people we studied, and each of them had a story that drew them to push the boundary of expectation.  From simple home innovations envisioned by a concerned parent, to professional caregivers, to world-class molecular biologists, innovation can and will sprout where there is an intersection of awareness and inspiration. If there is anything I believe definitively after this study, it is that every person has an important healthcare story, and...if asked the right questions, nearly everyone could identify at least one way that our collective health experience could advance.  It is a conversation I would like to have with every person I meet. The critical work of finding needs and matching them with innovators and innovations goes on. To the next 25, the next 250, the next.... BJK

Scientific progress is often limited less by the quality of our ideas than our ability to test them, and the speed at which we can do so.   The challenge isn't just generating hypotheses. It's building systems that can reason, design experiments, interpret results, and iterate against reality. The rate of scientific progress is often constrained by the speed and quality of those feedback loops.   As models improve, a growing share of the frontier will be determined by how effectively we connect reasoning systems to the physical world. The winners won't just have better models. They'll have better mechanisms for turning ideas into experiments and experiments into knowledge.   What we at Braidwell find particularly interesting about this work from Ben Kompa and the Lila Sciences team is the focus on the broader scientific AI stack. Advances in foundation models matter, but so do the tools, infrastructure, and experimental systems that allow those models to interact with reality. NVIDIA BioNeMo is an important part of that emerging ecosystem.   A thoughtful look at what it takes to build agent-driven science in practice.

Whenever I have the privilege to sit down with Alex Karnal and Brian Kreiter I inevitably walk away more optimistic than I was before: about the possibilities of science, our ability as a society to collaborate, and the likelihood that we are on the precipice of some major breakthroughs. The two of them have built Braidwell , a $3.5 billion life sciences investment firm, on this kind of scientific optimism. It is not a blind faith that good things are bound to happen on their own, but a confidence that, with the right people and resources pointed at the right problems, we have the means (and increasingly powerful tools) to turn promising ideas into remarkable achievements. There is a lot to unpack in this episode, but looking back, two bits of wisdom stand out in particular. The first, from Alex, has to do with the tremendous amount of work needed to achieve tremendous breakthroughs. While, according to Ken Stanley, greatness cannot be planned, it is inevitably the product of a lot of time, dedication, and effort that is eventually visited by serendipity. A lot of this episode is dedicated to exploring the systems and institutions that have driven Braidwell’s remarkable success. The second, from Brian, is to avoid partnerships unless you really need them. Braidwell is itself a fantastically successful partnership, but it is built on the deep investment both leaders have in its central project and a recognition of the natural entropy partnerships produce. Striking that balance requires hard work to make sure the partnership is more than the sum of its parts. The episode premiere on (5/28) at 7:00 p.m. ET on SiriusXM Media Business Radio (Channel 132) replays throughout the week and weekends. https://lnkd.in/ep3_EegT

Whenever I have the privilege to sit down with Alex Karnal and Brian Kreiter I inevitably walk away more optimistic than I was before: about the possibilities of science, our ability as a society to collaborate, and the likelihood that we are on the precipice of some major breakthroughs. The two of them have built Braidwell , a $3.5 billion life sciences investment firm, on this kind of scientific optimism. It is not a blind faith that good things are bound to happen on their own, but a confidence that, with the right people and resources pointed at the right problems, we have the means (and increasingly powerful tools) to turn promising ideas into remarkable achievements. There is a lot to unpack in this episode, but looking back, two bits of wisdom stand out in particular. The first, from Alex, has to do with the tremendous amount of work needed to achieve tremendous breakthroughs. While, according to Ken Stanley, greatness cannot be planned, it is inevitably the product of a lot of time, dedication, and effort that is eventually visited by serendipity. A lot of this episode is dedicated to exploring the systems and institutions that have driven Braidwell’s remarkable success. The second, from Brian, is to avoid partnerships unless you really need them. Braidwell is itself a fantastically successful partnership, but it is built on the deep investment both leaders have in its central project and a recognition of the natural entropy partnerships produce. Striking that balance requires hard work to make sure the partnership is more than the sum of its parts. The episode premiere on (5/28) at 7:00 p.m. ET on SiriusXM Media Business Radio (Channel 132) replays throughout the week and weekends. https://lnkd.in/ep3_EegT

This week on Bloomberg’s The Pulse, Braidwell Co-Founder and CIO Alex Karnal joined Francine Lacqua to discuss topics ranging from how developments in AI are reshaping all aspects of the healthcare ecosystem, foundational technologies that when stacked together can help someone live 5 years longer, and a future where people own their health journey.   As Alex shared, “Ten years ago, most of the companies we were looking at were limited by the types of problems they could solve, how long it would take, and how much capital was required to do it. Today, AI is allowing us to solve a set of healthcare problems that we simply couldn’t solve before.”   The result is a system shifting toward earlier risk detection, faster discovery loops, and hopefully, an increasingly patient-centered healthcare model grounded in trust, experience, and outcomes.   Listen to the full conversation between Alex and Francine here: https://lnkd.in/dVg9F-mG   #HealthcareInnovation #Healthstack #PatientBack

We may be underestimating how deeply connected human biology really is. A large new study published in The Lancet Psychiatry found associations between GLP-1 use and lower risks of depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and other psychiatric outcomes across nearly 95,000 people. We are still early in understanding what is driving this. Some of it is likely indirect: better metabolic health, weight loss, lower inflammation, improved sleep, mobility, and the psychological impact of finally feeling healthier again. But there is also growing evidence that GLP-1s interact more directly with the brain’s reward and impulse pathways in ways that extend beyond appetite regulation. For decades, medicine has treated metabolic health, cardiovascular health, and mental health as separate systems. Biology may not work that way. The same pathways tied to obesity and insulin resistance may also influence addiction, compulsive behavior, mood, and cognitive health. There is still a lot we need to learn, but the potential impact of these medicines keeps getting bigger - especially as they grow increasingly more affordable. #Healthstack #Healthspan #Longevity #PatientBack https://lnkd.in/eYsETMpP