Amit Kulkarni

Entrepreneurial success and disruptive innovation: I founded IntelliGene Health Informatics in 2014 to provide clinical and molecular informatics for hospitals and Pharmaceuticals. While working with IntelliGene’s main client, ORIEN Cancer Network of Hospitals, I recognized the value their data might produce if integrated and analyzed cohesively. I hired and directed a talented team of Computational Biologists, Data Scientists, and Software professionals to build a new, unified platform, applying data science techniques and advanced visualizations while integrating their molecular and clinical data. I used the platform to craft scientifically compelling use-cases for potential Pharma partners, having studied their drug development pipeline. Within 2 years, 6 multi-million-dollar Pharma partners (including Merck, BMS, & Abbvie) signed on to support the Cancer Network. The platform leveraged breadth and depth of the dataset to address use-cases in many areas simultaneously: Basic Research, Biomarker & Target discovery, Comparative Effectiveness Research, finding cohorts of similar patients, and Clinical Trial Matching. This success led directly to the acquisition of IntelliGene by Invitae in 2020.

People management and communication: Over the past 10 years, mentoring and developing individuals in their careers has been particularly rewarding for me. This strength in my leadership has equipped me with the ability to attract and retain talent, inspire a shared sense of mission, and promote individuals’ professional growth. Whether managing my own company, Invitae’s diverse Oncology department, or a network of prominent clients — including large Academic Medical Centers and major Pharmaceutical companies — I have understood management, budgeting, and product development in their different tiers of complexity. Further, through decades of serious commitment to meditation, martial arts, and other forms of self-study, I have developed a keen understanding of people's motivations and behaviors, providing me with a unique ability to relate to others beyond traditional leadership and management approaches.

Scientific research contributions: During my tenure at ORIEN Cancer Network of Hospitals, I worked on numerous publications collaborating with diverse researchers and utilizing a comprehensive dataset comprising RNASeq, DNASeq, and Clinical Data from thousands of patients. Selected publications are detailed in my resume. At Merck, I worked with large datasets to predict biomarkers in oncology, cardiovascular, and neuroscience programs. Notably, I played a crucial role in developing an RNASeq signature for predicting response in Merck's immuno-oncology Keytruda program.

Oligo designs expertise: CRISPR, siRNA, shRNA and RASL-seq platform: At Merck, I was in charge of pipeline development for oligo design that was used for siRNA, shRNA, CRISPR as well as microarray designs. As an example, using this pipeline, I scored siRNAs genome-wide and delivered final designs for 5 species. The designs were used to test new hypotheses and models for validating novel drug targets and pathways that emerged from human genetics.

NGS processing & analysis expertise: I have extensive experience analyzing and managing large NGS datasets, including genomic and single-cell gene expression data. At Merck, as part of their bioinformatics core, I processed and analyzed large sample volumes of RNA-Seq and DNA-Seq data across various therapeutic programs. Shortly after, I created IntelliGene Health Informatics to serve the large-scale NGS processing and analyzing needs for ORIEN Cancer Hospitals.

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