Journey from Vision to Reality
Joey Azofeifa (left), 2017 IQ Biology PhD graduate, and his mentor, Robin Dowell, see a bright future using computational biology to solve bioscience challenges.
Joey Azofeifacame to CU Boulder looking for a challenge. While he applied to many top notch biology programs, the IQ Biology Program spoke to him as the only place he couldchallenge himself and gain new perspective by delving into a completely new field—computational biology. “IQ Biology brings people in from diverse backgrounds and invests in them. They reallytook a chance on me and bridged across departments to train me and get me where I wanted to go,” says Joey.
The chance paid off, as Joey threw himself into computational studies and interdisciplinary research thatbridged genomics and machine learninginways that had never been done before.With their innovative approach, they transformed a sea of previouslyundecipherablegenomic data into a goldmine of crucial information for drug development.
ǴDzԲRobin Dowellas his mentor, Joey emulated her interdisciplinary research style. “Robin really embodies interdisciplinary science. She asks her own questions, not what the fielddictates. She combines disciplines in novel and interesting ways that open up new directions in bioscience. That’s the kind of scientist I wanted to be,” says Joey. Robin gave Joey the freedom toexplore his own path under her tutelage, which took him to the fringes of bioscience knowledge. “By combining fields I pushed myself so far out into the frontier that there wasn’t anyone else out thereto help me. I grew a lot because I had to figure it out on my own. That’s the biggest challenge of interdisciplinary science,” says Joey.
Joey credits his peers in the IQ Biology community for helping him develop the mental fortitude, courage and persistence required to navigate the unknown and work through challenges tosucceed as an interdisciplinary scientist. This intrepid crew from diverse backgrounds bonded overtackling unexplored intersections of science together. Working side by side, they developedthe essential communication skills to bridge disciplines that will serve them throughout their careers.
Joey partnered withTim Read, his roommate, who was a wet lab biologist PhD candidate also in Robin’s lab. As yin and yang, the duobuilt off each other’s vastly different knowledge toforge a new frontierin RNA biology. Examining genomic read-outs called enhancer RNA (eRNA), Tim honed state-of-the-art RNA sequencing assays while Joey built the mathematical modelingand machine learning tools required to decipher the genomic data. Their combined approach brought new perspective to the field. “Before we came along the field was dominated by geneticists,so it was easy for us to make a big impact with new computational tools. The payoff was huge,” says Joey. With their innovative approach, they transformed a sea of previously undecipherablegenomic datainto a goldmine of crucial information for drug development.
Specifically, their platform pinpoints a drug’s mechanism of action by distinguishing primary drug targets from aftereffects that can obscure the message. This is priceless information forpharmaceutical companies, which waste millions of dollars and years of R&D on drug candidates that ultimately fail due to misunderstood mechanisms.
The new insights afforded by Joey’s work will help companies choose the right drug candidates to pursue, and which diseases and patient populations to target for success. Overall the platformwill accelerate the development of better drugs with fewer side effects at a fraction of the cost.And so, Arpeggio Biosciences was born. The name resonated with Joey and Tim as musicians: “The eRNA signatures we decipher are like discrete ordered chords that run through the genomeand flesh it out. It is the profile, not a single note, that says something interesting,” says Joey. Arpeggio truly symbolizes the IQ Biology spirit, Joey explains, because its value lies in the combinedapproach ofemploying mathematical tools to derive meaning from biological data.
They teamed with, Boulder scientist and inventor, whose business expertise and connections helped to make their vision a reality. Arpeggiowill tackle its first real world oncology pipeline this year with FORMA Therapeutics. Focusing first on cancer drugs, Arpeggio is poised to solve diverse bioscience challenges with its highly adaptableplatform. Working from both biological and computational sides gives Arpeggio the dynamic flexibility and nimble approach that sets them up for success in today’s rapidly changing research andtechnology landscape.
