A seasoned AI-biotech leader and the co-inventor of BPGbio’s proprietary NAi® (Interrogative Biology®) platform, Slava Akmaev, Ph.D., has rejoined the company as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief AI Officer.

Akmaev and BPGbio CEO, Dr. Niven R. Narain developed the first fully integrated AI-based drug discovery platform in the industry dating back to 2012 which has fueled the current advanced stage pipeline.

Building on BPGbio’s momentum, Dr. Akmaev’s return will expand and strengthen the company’s leadership in AI and the emerging field of mitochondrial medicine; drive operational excellence in advancing the company’s late-stage clinical pipeline toward potential FDA approvals; cultivate and execute strategic biopharma partnerships and transactions. Dr. Akmaev will play a central role in continuing to advance the development of Bayesian causal AI models that power BPGbio’s NAi platform for next generation of targets across oncology, central nervous system disorders, and rare inflammatory diseases.

Slava first joined BPGbio (then BERG) in 2011 as one of the company’s earliest employees, where he led development of AI analytics that became the cornerstone of NAi. Most recently, he served as Chief Technology Officer at Scipher Medicine, where he developed and launched PrismRA®, a first precision-medicine diagnostic test for rheumatoid arthritis.

Slava is a trained mathematician. He earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in 2000. He has co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and is an inventor on 17 issued U.S. patents.