Move your research forward quickly and with confidence
Assay development, experimental strategy, platform validation, and AI tool integration for academic labs, early-stage biotech, translational research, and clinical programs.
You are…
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Whether you need a better assay, a stronger grant application, or help figuring out where AI fits into your lab's workflow, the goal is the same: more time for the science that matters.
Assay design and optimization, with protocols your trainees can run and reproduce
Study design, feasibility assessment, grant writing, and technical narratives
Sample procurement, including hard-to-source and rare disease materials
AI tool integration for literature synthesis, data analysis, and manuscript preparation
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You're moving fast with limited resources, and every decision about where to focus has outsized consequences. I can help you figure out where to point your technology first, build the infrastructure to test it, and tell the story to investors.
Application scoping: identifying the disease area or use case that gives your platform the clearest path to a compelling proof of concept, balancing scientific feasibility, data availability, regulatory pathway, and competitive landscape
Assay development designed for your current resources and stage
Scientific writing for investor materials, due diligence support, and R&D proposals
Lab startup and infrastructure: laboratory design, equipment sourcing on a startup budget, workflow development, and scientist training
CRO management and scientific oversight for externally run studies
Sample procurement, including for rare disease applications
AI tool integration for competitive intelligence, literature synthesis, and team workflows
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Getting to an IND requires many moving parts to come together: assay development, experimental strategy, documentation, and cross-functional coordination. I have contributed to pre-IND programs across multiple therapeutic areas and can support the scientific work that feeds into that process.
Assay development and validation to meet regulatory requirements for your program
Experimental strategy and study design coordinated across functions
Pre-IND support: generating and organizing the scientific data package your regulatory team needs
CRO management for external studies feeding into your IND package
Rare human sample procurement, including for rare disease programs
AI tool integration for regulatory intelligence and documentation workflows
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Sometimes you need an outside scientific perspective, a senior hand on a specific program, or help scaling what's already working.
Assay development and troubleshooting for new platforms or existing workflows
Experimental strategy and scientific writing for new programs, line extensions, or partnership materials
CRO management and scientific oversight for externally run studies
Sample procurement, including for rare disease applications
AI tool integration across research, documentation, and competitive intelligence workflows
Who I am…
I'm a molecular biologist with over 15 years of experience across academia and industry. My work spans assay development, experimental strategy, platform validation, scientific writing, and cross-functional collaboration across scientific, regulatory, and clinical teams
What I bring beyond the technical experience is a practical approach to problem solving. I learn quickly, know when I have enough information to act, and can communicate the plan to any audience, from your scientists to the CEO. I meet you and your team where you are and get you where you want to be, fast.
In academic and startup environments, I'm resourceful and scrappy. I can help you get things moving quickly with limited resources. I've built labs from scratch, sourced used equipment and animal samples locally, and cleaned and repaired a tissue culture room myself to bring it up to sterile standards.
In more established and later-stage programs, I bring that same drive but calibrated to what the context demands: more process, more cross-functional coordination, more attention to documentation and rigor. The pace is still there, but applied differently. In practice, that might mean designing a biomarker strategy informed by the mechanism of action of the drug, the molecular and phenotypic presentation of the disease, FDA precedence, and the needs of the medical and patient communities.
I also help teams navigate AI tools critically, identifying where they create real value, where they fall short, and how to implement them without losing scientific rigor. AI works best as an enhancement to your team's existing processes, not a replacement for them, and the right approach looks different for every team.
I work on a project or retainer basis, embedded or remote.
PhD, Biological Design, Arizona State University
BS, Biology, California Institute of Technology
Selected Client Engagements
Let's talk about what you're working on.
Engagements range from short-term project support to longer embedded partnerships. If you're not sure whether what you need fits one of the service areas above, reach out anyway. The most useful conversations usually start with a specific problem rather than a fully defined scope.
Email: rene@daerbio.com
Location: San Diego, CA (available remote and on-site)