A Rice University student decided to use his data science skills for good. Photo courtesy of Biokind Analytics

For Alex Han, it all started with peanut butter.

Han was a high school student in Korea when he learned that the spread is a pure odorant that could be used to test smell in each hemisphere of the brain—issues on the left side was thought to be a predictor for Alzheimer’s disease. He later learned that the method wasn’t as airtight as previously thought, but Han was hooked. Alzheimer’s research became the teenager’s passion. While still in high school, Han began volunteering for Alzheimer’s Los Angeles, translating their brochures into Korean.

When it came time to choose a college, Han says Rice University appealed to him for many reasons.

“I loved the atmosphere. I loved the campus—it’s so beautiful. The diverse food, the people, I even liked the highway,” he says of Houston. “In Korea, everything is so close and compact. I loved the whole scenario of the city.”

A scholarship was also part of the appeal, as well as the pull of the world’s largest medical center. Han’s instincts were correct. Now, a junior at Rice, he has been working at renowned geneticist Huda Zoghbi’s Baylor College of Medicine lab for almost two years.

But dividing his obligations between full-time studies and his wet lab position wasn’t enough to keep Han’s active mind occupied. Last May, the statistics and biochemistry student began another endeavor that uses both his specialties. It was then that he founded Biokind Analytics. The nonprofit was designed to explore how data science can support health care nonprofits.

Han reached out to Alzheimer’s Los Angeles to offer his data analysis services on a volunteer basis and was shocked that the association had never considered it before.

“I was really surprised—even small stores and restaurants use statistics to boost their profits. [Alzheimer’s Los Angeles] receive a couple million dollars every year in donations. They have data stores but hadn’t really capitalized yet in the area of analytics.”

Han, along with a small team of Rice students, including vice president Zac Andrews and development director Masha Zaitsev, made Alzheimer’s Los Angeles a pet project, analyzing geospatial trends in its donorship and interpreting the past year’s donation trends. “We wanted to see if the demand was the same in Houston. We found that this pattern was consistent. A lot of nonprofits are willing to have us analyze the data sets they’ve already been tracking and provide data analysis for healthcare nonprofits.”

Less than a year after Han established Biokind Analytics, the 501(c)(3) already has seven chapters on college campuses around the country. From UC Davis and San Diego in the West to Brown University and the University of Virginia on the East Coast, the data science students have helped a diverse range of medical nonprofits, mostly based in the Houston area. They run the gamut from ALS Association of Texas to Nora’s Home, which serves organ failure and transplant patients.

Biokind Analytics has now completed seven projects and analyzed $100 million in funds. Each student group includes four to six members, mostly majors in the worlds of statistics, data science, and biochemistry, all working with the help of faculty advisors. At a total of about 35 students nationwide, Han says that he’s dedicated to growing at a steady pace to avoid potentially expanding too fast, too soon.

Another question for the future is what will happen to Biokind Analytics when Han completes his undergraduate studies in 2024. He plans to continue his medical studies with the goal of one day becoming a physician specializing in Alzheimer’s who uses data analytics to aid in patient care. But no matter how active Han continues to be in the nonprofit he started, his stated attachment to the cause and a growing group of both student leaders and healthcare associations eager for their services are sure to keep Biokind Analytics active long after graduation.

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Axiom Space-tested cancer drug advances to clinical trials

mission critical

A cancer-fighting drug tested aboard several Axiom Space missions is moving forward to clinical trials.

Rebecsinib, which targets a cancer cloning and immune evasion gene, ADAR1, has received FDA approval to enter clinical trials under active Investigational New Drug (IND) status, according to a news release. The drug was tested aboard Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) and Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3). It was developed by Aspera Biomedicine, led by Dr. Catriona Jamieson, director of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute (SSCI).

The San Diego-based Aspera team and Houston-based Axiom partnered to allow Rebecsinib to be tested in microgravity. Tumors have been shown to grow more rapidly in microgravity and even mimic how aggressive cancers can develop in patients.

“In terms of tumor growth, we see a doubling in growth of these little mini-tumors in just 10 days,” Jamieson explained in the release.

Rebecsinib took part in the patient-derived tumor organoid testing aboard the International Space Station. Similar testing is planned to continue on Axiom Station, the company's commercial space station that's currently under development.

Additionally, the drug will be tested aboard Ax-4 under its active IND status, which was targeted to launch June 25.

“We anticipate that this monumental mission will inform the expanded development of the first ADAR1 inhibitory cancer stem cell targeting drug for a broad array of cancers," Jamieson added.

According to Axiom, the milestone represents the potential for commercial space collaborations.

“We’re proud to work with Aspera Biomedicines and the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute, as together we have achieved a historic milestone, and we’re even more excited for what’s to come,” Tejpaul Bhatia, the new CEO of Axiom Space, said in the release. “This is how we crack the code of the space economy – uniting public and private partners to turn microgravity into a launchpad for breakthroughs.”

Chevron enters the lithium market with major Texas land acquisition

to market

Chevron U.S.A., a subsidiary of Houston-based energy company Chevron, has taken its first big step toward establishing a commercial-scale lithium business.

Chevron acquired leaseholds totaling about 125,000 acres in Northeast Texas and southwest Arkansas from TerraVolta Resources and East Texas Natural Resources. The acreage contains a high amount of lithium, which Chevron plans to extract from brines produced from the subsurface.

Lithium-ion batteries are used in an array of technologies, such as smartwatches, e-bikes, pacemakers, and batteries for electric vehicles, according to Chevron. The International Energy Agency estimates lithium demand could grow more than 400 percent by 2040.

“This acquisition represents a strategic investment to support energy manufacturing and expand U.S.-based critical mineral supplies,” Jeff Gustavson, president of Chevron New Energies, said in a news release. “Establishing domestic and resilient lithium supply chains is essential not only to maintaining U.S. energy leadership but also to meeting the growing demand from customers.”

Rania Yacoub, corporate business development manager at Chevron New Energies, said that amid heightening demand, lithium is “one of the world’s most sought-after natural resources.”

“Chevron is looking to help meet that demand and drive U.S. energy competitiveness by sourcing lithium domestically,” Yacoub said.

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapital.