Episode 121: Using AI to Bridge the Translational Gap in Biotech and Drug Development
How can biotech teams move faster (and smarter) from preclinical research to human trials without sacrificing safety or rigor?
In this episode, host Elaine Hamm, PhD, sits down with Todd Kilbaugh, MD, Founder of Pharos Biolabs and a physician-scientist specializing in anesthesiology, critical care, and pediatrics. Todd shares his journey from clinical medicine to biotech entrepreneurship and unpacks one of the industry’s toughest challenges: why so many promising therapies fail to translate from animal models to humans. Together, they explore how AI, advanced modeling, organoids, and more thoughtful use of non-human primates could reshape preclinical development and reduce costly failures.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why the translational gap between animal models and humans remains one of biotech’s biggest bottlenecks, and how AI can help close it.
- How biomarkers, mathematical modeling, and digital twins can improve trial design long before a therapy reaches the clinic.
- What the future of preclinical development could look like with smarter integration of AI, organoids, and non-human primate studies.
Tune in for a wide-ranging conversation on AI-enabled science, better trial prediction, and how biotech can rethink the path from discovery to patients.
Links:
Connect with Todd Kilbaugh, MD.
Connect with Elaine Hamm, PhD, and learn about Tulane Medicine Business Development and the School of Medicine.
Connect with Doug Wallace, PhD.
Learn more about TBI.
Connect with Ian McLachlan, BIO from the BAYOU producer.
Check out BIO on the BAYOU.
Learn more about BIO from the BAYOU – the podcast.
Bio from the Bayou is a podcast that explores biotech innovation, business development, and healthcare outcomes in New Orleans & The Gulf South, connecting biotech companies, investors, and key opinion leaders to advance medicine, technology, and startup opportunities in the region.
