#30 - Molecular Simulations & AI: Accelerating Drug Discovery

▶️ Guest: Ingrid Barbosa-Farias, Founder of SimAtomic

🎙 Hosts: Sura Hadi, Mike Ouren & Elizabeth Rodziewicz

📻 This episode of AI Thought Leaders dives into the powerful intersection of molecular simulations and AI - and how one founder is using smarter algorithms to accelerate drug discovery and reduce R&D costs by up to 200x.

Ingrid Barbosa-Farias shares her journey from biotech bench scientist to founder of SimAtomic, a no-code platform making molecular dynamics simulations accessible to everyone - not just elite pharma labs. We explore how generative models are replacing traditional docking, what makes collagen so hard to model, and why reasoning-based AI could change medicine forever.

🔹 What SimAtomic is doing to democratize simulation

🔹 $100 in GPU = $20,000 saved in the lab🔹 Why smarter models overtakes more data

🔹 Simulating entire cells - and beyond

🔹 The dark side of AI’s “black box” problem

🔹 How founders and individuals can compete with Big Pharma

🔹 And yes… the AI model that says “It’s a T cell” every time

🍻 Whether you're building a biotech company, training models, or just wondering what AI can really do in drug discovery - this one’s for you.

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⏱️ EPISODE CHAPTERS - NAVIGATE THE EPISODE

00:00 – Cold Open: What if AI could cut drug discovery time in half?

00:32 – Welcome to AI Thought Leaders w/ Ingred Barbosa-Farias

02:34 – From Biologist to Founder: The Simatomic Origin Story

04:12 – What’s New: AI + Molecular Simulations

05:22 – Making Simulations Faster with Machine Learning

06:39 – Why Simulating Collagen Could Transform Cancer Research

07:44 – Real-World Use Cases: Speed + Accuracy with AI

08:26 – Docking vs. Dynamics: Explained for Non-Experts

09:41 – How Simulations Save $20,000 in Wet Lab Costs

12:34 – What’s Holding Back AI in Biology?

14:26 – Data Access, IP Walls & Collaboration Barriers

18:44 – Are AI-Designed Drugs Almost Here?24:33 – The Need for Logic-Based AI Models

27:43 – Can Small Startups Compete in This Space?

29:21 – From Sci-Fi to Spock: When AI Reasons Logically

35:18 – Simatomic Launch & First Research Collaborations

36:57 – Simulating Entire Cells & In Silico Experiments

40:03 – Where to Find Simatomic

41:30 – Final Thoughts + Outro

🌐 Simatomic: https://www.simatomic.com

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📌 SHORTS (Grab Quick Highlights)

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