ApconiX Welcomes Daniel Forman
ApconiX is delighted to welcome back Daniel Forman who joins us until September this year and will be working with Dr Nicholas Coltman in the Safety Science Group (SSG).
Academic Career
Dan attended school in Manchester, where he focused on the three sciences, biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as mathematics.
For his undergraduate studies, Dan earned a degree in physics, followed by a master’s in computer science. His undergraduate dissertation involved simulating the orbits of planetary bodies and predicting the longevity of planets within the Goldilocks zone in the NASA database, assessing their suitability for life.
One of the planets he studied, K2-18b, was recently featured in a BBC article by Pallab Ghosh, “…this is the strongest evidence yet that there is possibly life out there. I can realistically say that we can confirm this signal within one to two years.”
For his master’s dissertation, Dan researched diagnosing autism by analysing MRI scans of the brain. He processed functional MRI scans of individuals both with and without autism to see if it would be possible to accurately diagnose autism just from MRI scans.
After his internship at ApconiX in the summer of 2024, Dan moved to London, where he worked in data science and insurance for seven months but found the job too prescriptive. Dan is hoping to start a research master’s in bioinformatics and has received an offer from University College London after which he hopes to pursue a PhD in bioinformatics.
Working at ApconiX
For the next few months, Dan has returned to the role at ApconiX as a data scientist with SSG, where he’ll be at the forefront of data mining and engineering.
He will be building powerful pipelines that extract, store, and showcase data critical for target safety assessments, commenting “I am looking forward to continuing to iterate and improve on tools, as well as the opportunity to expand on my use of computational modelling to answer pharmaceutical and biochemical questions.”
Dan will delve deep into the world of computational algorithms, uncovering valuable insights from vast and complex datasets, and while SSG will be his primary focus, Dan will also collaborate across various business areas, tackling the challenges of managing and visualising large datasets.
Nic commented, “Here at ApconiX we are very people-centric and we thrive on the relationships we build internally and externally. Having built a strong and friendly relationship with Dan last summer, the opportunity to revisit the projects he started with us as well as leverage his forward thinking approaches to data science and humour was not something to be missed!”
Interests outside of Work
After graduating from university, Dan travelled through Ecuador, the Galapagos, and Australia.
He also loves video games, and to counteract his gaming, Dan maintains a fitness routine focused on strength training and cardio, and he enjoys playing squash for a fast-paced workout and friendly competition.
