Brandon Allgood, Ph.D.

Brandon Allgood is a serial entrepreneur and researcher focused on applying machine learning (ML) and large-scale computational methods to improve human health. Brandon most recently ran a consulting and early-stage investment company, Obsidian Scientific. LLC, where he used his 23 years of experience in developing AI based platforms in healthcare to help large pharma, venture capital, private equity, and start-ups with AI strategy, platform architecture, early research, and technology management.  Brandon previously helped build three companies, Valo Health, Numerate, and Pharmix, at the forefront of applying modern ML and computational methods to drug discovery and development in diverse subfields, including chemistry, biology, clinical trials and real-world health data.  Brandon was formerly the Chief AI Officer at Valo Health where he provided technology vision from the beginning through the growth phase of the company and managed the engineering and data science teams that were developing and applying Valo’s AI-based platform, the Opal Computational Platform.  Prior to Valo Health, Brandon was the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Numerate, a leader in ML-driven computational small molecule drug design.  At Numerate, he led the engineering and data science teams in developing Numerate’s Data Driven Drug Design (D4) Platform, which was used successfully on over 30+ drug design programs at Numerate and in partnership with small biotechnology and large pharmaceutical companies.

Brandon received a B.S. in Physics from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Cosmology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Brandon has authored scientific publications in astrophysics, solid-state physics, computational biology and chemistry, and business.  He is also founder and former executive chair of the Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAIH), former UCSC Foundation Trustee and current Baskin School of Engineering Dean’s Council member. Brandon also currently teaches machine learning at UC Berkeley.