What You Missed at BioBuzz’s First Baltimore Blockchain Meetup
If you missed out, last Wednesday the BioBuzz team kicked off the inaugural meetup for Blockchain in Baltimore with BioBuzz. This is a group our team formed following our time in the University of Maryland Blockchain Accelerator, an 8-week accelerator centered around building a business in this burgeoning and exciting new space. As with everything we do, we wanted to find a way to bring our community along on this journey of learning as we step into a whole new arena of technological advances that are being leveraged in our industry.
For those that aren’t familiar, blockchain is the underlying technology for a wide range of digital assets. The assets getting the most attention right now are things like cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum), non-fungible tokens (also called NFTs), and a wide range of financial instruments that act as a user’s stake in a protocol. But there’s more here than meets the eye; this new technology is creating foundational trust layers that can be built upon. And as you can probably imagine, few industries are better positioned than life sciences to benefit from creating systems that rely on systemic trust.
That’s why we also invited one of our favorite companies utilizing this technology to move their business forward, IndyGeneUS AI. This company is on a mission to accelerate the discovery, development, and manufacturing of advanced therapeutics to address health disparities that African diaspora populations face in accessing high-quality, equitable healthcare. They are giving patients new ways to maintain control over their data and privacy by creating the world’s largest blockchain-encrypted repository of indigenous clinical and multi-omics data for disease prevention.
We were joined by their CEO, Yusuf Henriques and their CSO, Dr. Brad Wilson, who both walked our attendees through how blockchain is integral to their ecosystem. After a quick introductory presentation from our organizer, BioBuzz’s own Jake Thomas, there was a brief run-through of the company’s business model coupled with an interactive discussion on how this technology can restore trust to communities that have been historically overlooked by the healthcare system. Lively discussion, local beers, and Ledo Pizza; it’s hard to get more Baltimore than that!
This meetup is just getting started. If you want to be kept in the loop on upcoming events, opportunities to present your company’s blockchain solutions, or just want to be aware of what’s taking place, be sure to sign-up for the group. We intend to explore topics like ‘NFT communities and what it could mean for life sciences’, ‘How blockchain is finding applications to advance pharmaceuticals’, and even ‘the intersection between AI, Automation, Blockchain, and Science’.
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Enabling conversations between the right people can open a doorway to meaningful innovations, equitable career opportunities, and can help us build powerful communities. At BioBuzz, I’m lucky to be in a position to drive all three of those outcomes forward. Each day, I get to help companies, thought leaders, and professionals of all walks of life tell their story to the right audience. More importantly, I get to amplify it on a powerful platform to uncover its value in the context of broader themes in the industry and the impact to communities that benefit from the work being done. Follow me to learn more about Employer Brand, Talent Communities, and Digital Assets.
