Earlier this Spring, the MSL welcomed Graham Siegel, Chief Operating Officer of Unlearn.AI, as a speaker in the spring DPELC-MSL Speaker Series. An alum of the law school, Graham spoke about his experience as an entrepreneur and his current work at Unlearn.AI.
Prior to joining Unlearn.AI, Graham founded two healthcare technology startups: SolsonHealth, which developed technologies to improve medical front office operations, and LogiSanté, a non-profit dedicated to building a network to deliver vaccines to remote community health centers in Haiti. He also worked in strategy consulting at Booz & Co.’s healthcare consulting group.
Unlearn.AI is a clinical research company whose goal it is to accelerate drug development by using “digital twin data,” machine learning-generated clinical records. Unlearn is currently focusing mainly on two particular diseases – Alzheimer’s and Multiple Sclerosis; both of these diseases have already been the subject of multiple clinical trials, and thus there is a lot of available data that can be productively used to streamline and accelerate future clinical trials related to these diseases.
Everybody knows that clinical trials are crazy expensive and take a very long time to produce significant results. It is also common knowledge that accurate studies require a substantial control population. By leveraging tools of artificial intelligence and using data that already exists, Unlearn.AI can create records that simulate a control patient and accurately predict how a patient would have responded if they had not received the experimental treatment. Incorporating Digital Twin data into clinical trials on the front end enables smaller and more efficient trials – Graham estimated that using Digital Twin data could reduce the number of patients required for a clinical trial by as much as 65%. In addition to reducing sample sizes, Digital Twins increase the power of clinical trials through the creation of an “intelligent control arm,” which allows for more multi-faceted analysis. In addition, using Digital Twin data can potentially shorten the quite lengthy timeline for clinical trials, while preserving or even increasing the rigor of these trials. This powerful advancement can ultimately increase clinical trial power and confidence, accelerate trial timelines, and generate valuable new data. Graham expressed optimism for Unlearn.AI’s technology, and great hope for improving the future efficiency and efficacy of clinical trials.
As a graduate of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Graham credited the Law School, and the DPELC in particular, with imparting skills that have proved to be very valuable in the startup world. While he was initially exploring MBAs, his interest in entrepreneurship and venture capital brought him to the law school, and he is very happy with his choice to pursue legal education, which he believes has allowed him to interact effectively with professionals in all areas of the company’s operations, including on the technical side. He noted that some of his best moments in law school were hearing from the amazing array of guest speakers. It was a real pleasure to hear Graham describe his work, and to welcome him to the pantheon of guest speakers who will influence the current generation of JD and MSL students.
