Beyond the Clinic: Innovation in Healthcare

Feb 12, 2026

Dr. Jenny Yang, CEO and Co-Founder of Outpost Bio, shares how AI is unlocking the microbiome’s potential to transform drug development. From overcoming the biggest barriers in the field to translating insights into real-world impact, Jenny explains the science, strategy, and vision behind Outpost Bio, plus her hot take on where the industry is heading.

Outpost Bio Co-Founder and CEO Jenny Yang joined Oscar Vallejo on Beyond the Clinic to talk about how AI is helping unlock the microbiome as a new layer in drug development—and what it will take to translate microbiome science into tools that can drive real-world R&D decisions.

The conversation covers:

Why the microbiome remains one of the biggest untapped variables in understanding drug response
How AI can help model complex interactions between microbial communities and therapeutic compounds
The scientific and technical barriers that have historically limited progress in the field
How Outpost is working to turn microbiome insights into practical tools for drug development
Jenny’s perspective on where AI, microbiome science, and personalized medicine are heading next

The conversation covers:

Why the microbiome remains one of the biggest untapped variables in understanding drug response
How AI can help model complex interactions between microbial communities and therapeutic compounds
The scientific and technical barriers that have historically limited progress in the field
How Outpost is working to turn microbiome insights into practical tools for drug development
Jenny’s perspective on where AI, microbiome science, and personalized medicine are heading next

News

Jul 17, 2026

An AI-Powered Approach Decodes Gut Microbiome Interactions

Outpost Bio leverages machine learning to develop models that can identify interactions among stool microbes to improve drug development. Written by Shelby Bradford, PhD and published in The Scientist.

News

Jul 17, 2026

An AI-Powered Approach Decodes Gut Microbiome Interactions

Podcast

Feb 12, 2026

Beyond the Clinic: Innovation in Healthcare

Podcast

Feb 12, 2026

Beyond the Clinic: Innovation in Healthcare

Blog

Mar 29, 2026

Can Transformers Learn the Language of the Microbiome?

Drugs that you take interact with a complex microbial ecosystem in your gut. Trillions of microorganisms call the human digestive tract home and interact with one another and with their human host. This microbial world can directly modify drug structure (1–4), influence host immune responses (5,6), and alter pharmacokinetics (4,7). Currently, most drug development programs choose to ignore the gut microbiome because a reliable method to predict how it impacts drugs does not exist.