Elizabeth Iorns, co-founder and CEO of Science Exchange, created an online marketplace for researchers to solve her own problem. At the time she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
“My research hit a roadblock every time I needed to conduct experiments that were outside my field of expertise,” said Iorns.
After exhausting her personal connections she turned outward, only to stumble into a vast world of uncharted territory.
“Outsourcing experiments was extremely difficult. It was hard to find providers, time consuming to communicate with them, and there was no seamless way evaluate or pay for their work.”
She wasn’t the only one to have this problem. In a recent poll performed by Science Exchange of more than 1,500 principle investigators in the U.S., they found that 50 percent of them are unhappy with the current collaboration model. More than 40 percent had not started a project because they couldn’t find the right collaborator and more than 30 percent could not finish a project without access to certain experts or tools.
Other industries were clearing similar hurdles by creating online platforms where people could communicate easily and services could be exchanged for cash safely and efficiently. Ions and Science Exchange Co-founder Dan Knox were determined to create an infrastructure and incentive system that would enable researchers to order experiments from the world’s best labs through a similar platform.
This resulted in a central database of scientific services offered by more than 1,000 facilities throughout the U.S. and abroad. First, researchers can compare pricing, turn-around time and past client feedback. Posting a description of a proposed project is free. Researchers can request an estimate from a single provider or open the project to all relevant providers.
Once estimates are received, researchers can communicate directly with providers via the Science Exchange platform and collaborations begin with a simple click of a button. Projects are tracked through the project page where both parties can easily monitor activity, send large data files or exchange messages. The platform includes an integrated payment system, facilitating payment across individuals, government institutions and international currencies.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
A majority of the research institutions offered are U.S.-based, including 75 of the top 100 recipients of NIH grant funding, while most users are from outside the U.S.
“This sort of cross-continental collaboration is something that could happen before, but it was very difficult to organize or transfer information and money,” Iorns said.
Tight turnarounds, quality data and access to experts don’t come easily in the traditional research model. The service allows researchers to source experts quickly so every lab isn’t stretching to conduct experiments they don’t have the instrumentation or resources for.
Once such partnership that started via Science Exchange between NASA and the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication (MCN) recently led to new developments in the production of super-black carbon nanotubes, aka the blackest material ever measured.
The cross-continental teams were able to communicate through the Science Exchange portal to easily share updates and data.
“NASA had worked for years on this project without sufficient results,” said Iorns. Through Science Exchange, they were able to complete the project in two months with a $3,000 budget. “The ability to easily connect with an expert from another hemisphere has the potential to change the way scientific partnerships form and complete research.”
Plans for Science Exchange include building the core marketplace, as well as finding new users, both in the U.S. and abroad.
“We’re focusing heavily on biotech and incubator outreach,” said Iorns. That means targeting companies in the early stages when efficiency and cost savings can make or break a company.
As research continues to become more specialized and multidisciplinary, the need for the scientific collaborations created by Science Exchange will grow. The vision is to create a space where any researcher can access the equipment and experts they need to collect quality data on their terms.
Iorns recently spoke about her project during a TEDMED Google hangout that focused on new ways to conduct scientific research and clinical trials.
