From tinkering with computers as a kid, to matriculating at Johns Hopkins while his peers were entering 11th grade, to his PhD in physics, to his current work at drug discovery at Regeneron, Jeff Reid has always embraced his inner nerd.

Today, Jeff is head of genomics informatics at the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC), which he describes as “an academic genome center embedded inside of a pharma company.” The RGC combines Electronic Health Record (EHR) data from consented patients at Geisinger (a foundational partner in this project, and described by Jeff as “absolutely visionary”) and other medical centers with genetic (exome) data the RGC generates from these patients; it then integrates these data (utilizing – disclosure – the DNAnexus platform) to generate and prioritize drug targets. So far, it seems to be working phenomenally well based on the work published in top tier journals and presented at prominent scientific conferences. And much of the credit belongs to Jeff.

On today’s show, we review Jeff’s multifaceted journey – from physics to genetics and from Seattle to New York, as well as his experiences as an openly gay leader in industry. We’ll also discuss Jeff’s terrible taste in music and exceptional taste in cocktails, and learn where to get the best mixed drink in Houston (spoiler alert: it’s Anvil).

This episode of Tech Tonics is sponsored by DNAnexus, the secure and compliant cloud platform that enables enterprise users to analyze, collaborate around, and integrate massive amounts of genetic and other health data.

Tags: david shaywitz, digital health, dnanexus, EHR, electronic health record, exome, genomics, health data, health innovation, health technology, Jeff Reid, Johns Hopkins, lisa suennen, Regeneron Genetics Center, venture valkyrie
 
Posted in: Audio Podcast, Healthcare, Tech Tonics