About Us

Our goal
Solving the challenges facing research

Our digital research platform combines sophisticated AI technology with white-glove Research Concierge support to enable scientists to run more innovative experiments in less time and at lower cost. Our clients include many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, who receive on-demand access to research services and products from our global network of over 5,000 suppliers.

If we learned anything during the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s that science matters. By working together globally, scientists were able to create multiple life-saving vaccines and treatments faster than anyone thought possible.

At Scientist.com, we believe that all human diseases need to be approached with the same strong sense of urgency. Most of the tools needed to cure all human diseases have already been invented. We simply need to reimagine how science is done and create faster, more cost efficient and innovative ways to use those tools.

Scientist.com removes barriers to innovation and helps scientists at the world’s leading research institutions discover innovative medicines in less time and at lower cost. By offering Science as a Service®, Scientist.com is transforming pharmaceutical and biotech R&D and creating a world in which research scientists are limited only by their imagination.

Kevin Lustig, PhD
Founder and CEO

A Brief History

Of Scientist.com

2017

Launched COMPLi®, a comprehensive compliance suite for regulated services
Raised $24M in VC funding from 5AM Ventures and Transformation Capital

2018

Created and patented a blockchain solution to protect data integrity
Launched SciPay™, a supply chain finance solution for suppliers

2019

Developed machine learning algorithms to optimize supplier selection
Offered paid supplier marketing services
Began offering IND-enabling studies

2020

Acquired Trial Insights™
Acquired HealthEconomics.com®

2021

Created the Disease Model Finder™
Launched Verif.i®
Acquired BioPharmCatalyst™
Acquired InsideScientific™
Acquired Notch8™

Founded
in April 2007

Scientist.com (officially The Assay Depot, Inc.) was founded in 2007 by Chris Petersen, Kevin Lustig, PhD, and Andrew Martin, PhD. While working together at Kalypsys Inc., a biotech company founded by Kevin in 2001, they realized that the cutting-edge drug research programs of the future would likely use external laboratories to run many of the experiments needed to develop a new medicine. Why? Because if done right, external research can be better, faster and cheaper than research done in internal laboratories.

Public Marketplace
September 15, 2008

On September 15th, 2008 (the day Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, and the Great Recession started) Scientist.com launched its first public ecommerce marketplace for custom research. Overshadowed by the financial downturn and lacking essential capabilities, the marketplace did not gain significant traction. But in 2010, the company was approached by a pharmaceutical company that wanted to use the platform to give its researchers private access to both internal and external research capabilities. After a year of co-development, Scientist.com launched a new enterprise software product that helped pharmaceutical researchers more effectively interact with internal core labs and external research suppliers.

Enterprise Software
2010-2014

From 2011-2014 the company built the world’s most extensive database of global supplier capabilities and created enterprise software that enabled pharmaceutical researchers to quickly find external and internal suppliers, communicate with them and receive research proposals.

Enterprise Marketplace
2015-Present

In 2015 the company pivoted back to its original business model and created a digital marketplace for externalized research. The company hired multiple pharmaceutical industry veterans who were committed to the vision of using a digital marketplace to improve drug research efficiency. Working closely with Mike Snowden and top executives at AstraZeneca and other leading pharma, Scientist.com developed and successfully implemented a unique industry-wide legal model in support of the externalization of scientific research. Today, Scientist.com has partnerships with most of the world’s large pharmaceutical companies. The company has grown sales for 31 straight quarters and has more than $1B in cumulative sales.

Leadership Team

Kevin Lustig, PhD
CEO & Founder

Kevin co-founded Scientist.com in 2007 and is Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He is also co-founder of the life science incubator Bio, Tech and Beyond (2011) and the biotech company Kalypsys (2001). Kevin directed lead discovery at Tularik (1997-2001), did a postdoc at Harvard and received a PhD from USCF and an AB magna cum laude from Cornell. His research has been published in Science and Nature, and he holds eight technology patents. Kevin has twice been recognized by PharmaVoice Magazine as one of the Life Science Industry’s 100 Most Inspiring People, and he was named San Diego’s Most Admired CEO by the San Diego Business Journal in 2013.

Chris Petersen
CTO & Founder

Chris co-founded Scientist.com in 2007 and is Chief Technical Officer (CTO). He is a software engineer who has led the product development team at Scientist.com since inception. From 2003-2006 he was Director of Software Development at Kalypsys, a biotech startup. He was Director of Engineering at Learning Framework from 2000-2003. Chris received a B.S. in Computer Science in 1999 from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he received the Provost’s award for work in evolutionary programming and genetic algorithms. A San Diego Top Tech Execs Honoree in 2014 and 2019, he has also served as a judge and chaired the event in 2021.

Dan Kagan, PhD
COO & President

As Scientist.com’s President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dan helped create an innovative business and legal framework that is now used by most of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations (CROs). Prior to Scientist.com, he advised startups at eBoost Consulting, started a company called ChemoTactics and was the CTO of the UC-San Diego 100K Entrepreneur Challenge. Dan received an M.S. and Ph.D in Bioengineering from Joseph Wang’s lab at UCSD, where he was a Gordon Scholar. He has twice been recognized as one of San Diego Business Journal’s 40 Next Top Business Leaders Under 40.

Diana Ourthiague, PhD
CCO

As Scientist.com’s Chief Customer Officer (CCO) Diana runs a global team that manages marketplace operations and customer service. Her work enables the thousands of scientists who use the marketplace to connect with global labs and carry out groundbreaking research experiments. Since joining in 2014, Diana has played a pivotal role in building Scientist.com into one of the country’s fastest-growing private companies. In 2013, she received an M.S. and PhD in Biochemistry from the Signaling Systems Lab at UCSD. In 2022, Diana was selected as one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Biotechnology by the Healthcare Technology Report.

About Us

Our goal
Solving the challenges facing research