Meet Timo Haschler, Senior Scientific Project Manager on our Target and Biomarker Discovery team!
Timo Haschler and his team work closely with clients to identify novel drug targets and biomarkers. This includes the multi-year collaboration we announced with Bayer in 2024, to identify novel cancer targets and co-create a target identification platform to enable better patient identification, stratification, and selection for clinical trials.
What are your main responsibilities? What does a typical week look like for you?
As a Senior Scientific Project Manager, I serve as a bridge between multidisciplinary experts including data scientists, biologists, pathologists/clinicians, and senior pharma stakeholders. Operating within the Target and Biomarker Discovery department, my daily work relates to the orchestration of cross-functional collaborations. Closely-aligned with internal as well as external teams, I enable effective interdisciplinary dialogue on one hand, while on the other hand also conduct thorough assessments of machine learning model outputs. Thereby, helping to transform computational outputs into actionable biological insights that lead to valuable patient stratification approaches and novel target hypotheses.
What is a recent challenge that your team overcame that you’re particularly proud of?
Through our partners, Aignostics has access to large datasets and a wide range of patient/disease morphologies, allowing us to create very targeted cohorts. In the process of applying stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria, we sometimes end up with smaller patient numbers than initially expected. Having stringent criteria is crucial for performing high-quality analyses, so our team has refined a process to not only successfully analyze large datasets, but also to make the most of limited datasets when they are needed to hone in on specific cohorts.
In cases where limited data is available, our team has proven capable of deriving meaningful outputs through innovative approaches and scientific precision. By combining advanced machine learning techniques with high quality engineering and deep biological expertise, we've successfully extracted valuable insights even from restricted datasets. Our methods are rigorously validated and evaluated to ensure both technical reliability and biological relevance, allowing us to generate actionable findings despite data constraints that would typically limit conventional analysis approaches.
What is an impactful skill that you developed since joining the team that you did not expect?
Coming from a biological background with a PhD from UCL and prior experience in target identification at AstraZeneca, I brought relevant expertise but modest AI knowledge when joining Aignostics' Discovery department. The collaborative environment within our interdisciplinary team has provided exceptional learning opportunities, allowing me to develop distinct technical skills while working alongside specialists from various scientific domains.
The most impactful development has been how I have learned to bridge computational and biological perspectives. This has enabled me to provide valuable insights on both technical and biological fronts—assessing machine learning approaches for biological validity, recognizing patterns in computational outputs that align with or contradict established mechanisms, and recommending model adjustments to enhance biological relevance. This dual perspective helps our team create solutions that maintain technical excellence while delivering biologically meaningful insights for our pharmaceutical collaborators.
What is your favorite part about working at Aignostics?
My favorite part about working at Aignostics is being immersed in our remarkable melting pot of talents and perspectives. Our team brings together individuals from vastly different scientific backgrounds, creating a uniquely collaborative environment where computational expertise meets deep biological understanding. What makes this especially rewarding is witnessing how our excellent and diligent colleagues consistently channel their diverse skills toward a shared mission: finding innovative ways to improve cancer patient diagnosis and treatment.
How would you describe your team in just three emojis?
🕵️ 👥 ✨
Our team functions as scientific detectives, methodically solving biological questions and technical challenges as they arise. The second represents our teamwork and how closely we collaborate and work together. And the spark shows that our team doesn't just work well together—we actually have a lot of fun doing it, all while being truly excited about making a difference in patients' lives. I enjoy the chemistry we've built with each other, and I honestly think we have something special when it comes to collaboration.
