Meet the speaker: 

I currently serve as Chief Science Officer at Seven Bridges (a Velsera company) as well as an executive leader at Velsera where I oversee the Scientific Program Management and Researcher Education & Adoption teams (n ~ 20 people). I am also responsible for the scientific strategy of the company spanning government, non-profit, biotech, pharma, and diagnostic sectors. 

I am a natural consensus builder who leads by prioritizing listening and building trust to drive progress. Balancing consistent optimism, vision, and inclusivity while serving as a steading force has been crucial to motivate strong performance of the teams I’ve led. Often leading without direct authority, fostering strong internal and external relationships has been critical to driving success. Multidisciplinary academic research followed by developing data ecosystems for academic, biopharma, and government partners has sharpened my abilities as a natural translator. I excel at distilling complex technical and scientific concepts for diverse audiences - from high school to the corporate C-Suite. 

At Seven Bridges (a Velsera company) I have led the development of many discovery and analysis ecosystems, where I am committed to building systems that accelerate the pace of scientific discovery. I have contributed to numerous NIH biomedical data ecosystems since 2015 - serving as co-PI for Kids First Common Fund Data Ecosystem, INCLUDE Data Hub, NCI Cancer Data Aggregator, and multiple NIH Cloud Platform Interoperability (NCPI) projects. Recently, I plan to be co-PI for the NCI Cancer Research Data Commons, NHLBI BioData Catalyst and NHLBI RECOVER programs.  

I consistently strive to empower diverse researchers, leading efforts across multiple venues to help advance scientific research capabilities. For example, I co-chaired the NIH Cloud Platform Interoperability (NCPI) Systems Interoperability working group from its inception in 2020 through 2023. This working group supported novel scientific use cases and the development of technical standards to make them possible (and reusable). Significant NCPI progress (e.g. the first cloud co-analysis of GTEx and TCGA in 2019) spurred important policy discussions necessary to accommodate these technical advances. Bringing together policy and technical teams increases both efficiency and impact. I also led the integration of Seven Bridges platforms with the NIH STRIDES program, which leveled the playing field for diverse researchers. I served as co-PI for the Australian BioCommons ZERO Childhood Cancer Flagship, which empowered pediatric cancer researchers to perform federated analysis of US and Australian data sets since 2019. I also led the partnership with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to make clinical trial data (imaging, actigraphy, and molecular) from the Know Your Tumor dataset and Precision Promise clinical trial actionable for researchers via a discovery portal and workspace environment.  

I believe that understanding incentives and use cases is paramount. This approach draws on my PhD training in machine learning, applied neuroprosthetics research, and eight years of experience within Seven Bridges strongly focused on software, product, and community development for data ecosystems. I am driven to increase STEM participation and excel at distilling complex technical and scientific information to make it accessible for diverse audiences.  

Translational research has been the common thread; with the goal of making a positive impact for patients. We’ll bring more researchers to the fight, with higher quality data that’s representative of all patients, and work together to give patients and their families more options and more time. 

Jack DiGiovanna

Chief Science Officer at Velsera