Ariel Precision Medicine: Integrated Genomics Meets Digital Health Solutions

ARIEL Medicine is an integrated genomics and digital health company headquartered in Pittsburgh that delivers precision medicine for the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of complex chronic diseases and disorders. Complex chronic diseases are extremely difficult to manage due to their unique needs and disabilities that often require multiple moving parts of different healthcare providers and facilities. Sometimes, there’s no clear diagnosis, which can leave patients without answers to the cause of their symptoms. 

Led by CEO and Co-Founder Jessica Gibson, ARIEL’s model combines genetic testing with complex medical history analysis for advanced intelligence that healthcare teams can use to formulate effi cient road-maps for disease prevention and patient recovery.

“I grew up with a parent that had complex chronic health conditions and watched them go through our healthcare system where it was trial and error and dozens of doctors and medications and surgeries and procedures trying to mitigate the symptoms,” said Gibson. “So, I always knew I was called to do something in healthcare.”

Gibson studied emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and moved to California following academia in 2006 to work in genetic sequencing, pharmaceutical sales and medical marketing.

“It was there where I saw there was this huge gap in their ability to integrate all of this emerging complex medical information for each patient,” she said. “They follow a protocol where if you see this, treat this. That’s how medicine was practiced. But in 2015 when President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative, I saw the opportunity to really start creating new technology that could integrate genetics with environmental context, creating a scalable solution for doctors to be able to effectively apply precision medicine for an individual patient.”

ARIEL’s mechanistic approach enables intervention methods prior to the development of end-stage disease outcomes. Its platform integrates a patient’s symptoms and genetics found through Next Generation Sequencing of more than 700 gene targets, comparing a patient’s disease behavior against databases of complex disease patterns. This helps determine both the cause of the disease and an effective treatment plan.

ARIEL received its clinical license in 2017 and has since assembled an expert team of medical professionals, genetic scientists and biomedical technologists. That are all committed to making a lasting impact on the future of complex chronic disorder diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

“We work with really talented people who have very specifi c skill sets, but it’s not just fi nding the right people, it’s fi nding the right motivation and passion.” said Gibson. “Most if not all of them have a personal or family history of someone that has faced some of the gaps in the healthcare system – a chronic illness, or a certain type of cancer where our current healthcare system was just not equipped to effectively diagnose and treat that earlier. So, they’re living with or suffering the consequences of these complex conditions.”

With additional offi ces in Chicago and Los Angeles, ARIEL’s home base lies in Pittsburgh – one of the few places in the world where cutting-edge technology exists alongside cutting-edge medicine. Combine them with the roll-up-your-sleeves work ethic of the Steel City, and you have ARIEL’s core foundation.

“We’re blue-collar in white overcoats,” Gibson said. “One of the reasons why I love Pittsburgh is the work ethic, but also it’s where technology meets medicine. The human capital has really advanced skills in genetics, in medicine, in technology, and it’s leveraging the most advanced tools and applying them to the medical sector.”