How Aces in Big Data Play to San Diego’s Strong Suit in Big Biology

Tech and software startups in San Diego have had a substantial recovery in recent years, aided by an expanding ecosystem of incubators and accelerators, co-working spaces, university organizations, and a new generation of investors.

Nevertheless, Silicon Valley exerts a kind of gravitational pull on many local tech startups, often by offering better deal terms if startups relocate to the Bay Area and higher salaries for technically skilled employees. What can San Diego do about it? Think outside the box.

We’ve organized a special half-day forum on Torrey Pines Mesa on March 31, called Big Data Meets Big Biology, to highlight how some tech entrepreneurs are taking advantage of San Diego’s strength in the life sciences. We’re bringing together leading experts in genomics, bioinformatics, and analytics (along with VCs and startup CEOs) to lay out the Big Biology roadmap—and chart some of the roadblocks that represent opportunities for innovation.

The current list of confirmed speakers are:

Ilkay Altintas, Chief Data Science Officer, UCSD San Diego Supercomputer Center

Francis deSouza, President, Illumina

Lucian Iancovici, Senior Investment Manager, Qualcomm Life Fund

Kim Kamdar, Partner, Domain Associates

Stephen Kingsmore, President and CEO, Rady Pediatric Genomics and Systems Medicine Institute

Rob Knight, Professor of Biomedical Sciences & Director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation, UC San Diego

Franz Och, Chief Data Scientist, Human Longevity

Nicholas Schork, Professor and Director of Human Biology, J. Craig Venter Institute

Pieter van Rooyen, President and CEO, Edico Genome

Some topics we’ll explore:

—By some estimates, as many as 2 billion human genomes could be sequenced over the next nine years, generating data that would far exceed the data output expected of other “Big Data” domains, such as Twitter and YouTube. What kind of computing resources will be needed to manage that much data?

—Rapid genome sequencing represents the best hope for diagnosing critically ill newborns, so what are the gaps and challenges in pediatric genomic medicine?

—How do venture capital investors view the prospects for tech startups in the life sciences? What types of innovation are needed in such fields as genomics, brain science, and digital health?

We will soon update our program with additional speakers, and other details. In the meantime, tickets are available here, and we hope to see you all on March 31.

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Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.