How can we use technology to create a true picture of human health? This is how Verily, Alphabet's rebrand of its Life Sciences division, greets its visitors online. Google's parent company has also released a video introduction about Verily .
Verily employs chemists, engineers, behavioral scientists and doctors. Using advanced research equipment and Alphabet's large scale computer power, the multidisciplinary teams are working together to understand human health and improve the prevention and management of diseases.
"We work with partners from across the industry and many fields of research to develop new technology, launch studies, and start companies," Verily states. "Our mission is to bring together technology and life sciences to uncover new truths about health and disease."
Prior to the rebranding and the organizational restructuring that independentize Verily, Google's Life Sciences division was working as part of Google[x], the company's semi-secret research and development facility that produced the famous driverless car. The Life Sciences division had several projects while under Google[x], which includes the research on the perfect "baseline" of human health and bandage-sized glucose monitors. Verily is now tasked to continue on the mentioned projects.
"As a life sciences team within Google[x], we were able to combine the best of our technology heritage with expertise from across many fields," Verily adds while noting that the Life Sciences division started through a 2012 project that aimed to put computing within contact lenses.
Verily is split up into four departments - hardware, software, clinical and science. The Hardware team is tasked with building tools and devices that are not only more powerful and convenient to use, but more compact as well. Contact lenses with embedded glucose sensors so diabetic individuals can easily monitor their condition is a good example of this. On the other hand, the software team is currently developing products, platforms and algorithms that can analyze complex health data.
Both the software and hardware teams are working with the clinical team to help address the real-world medical needs of both the patients and service providers. Lastly, the science team is there to research the conditions that lead to diseases and how to prevent and manage them. To do this, the team is developing automated computational systems and advanced imaging systems, as well as utilizing bio-molecular nanotechnology for more accurate diagnosis.
The executive committee of the now-independent company is made up of CEO Andy Conrad, CTO Brian Otis, CMO (Chief Medical Officer) Jessica Mega, head of engineering Linus Upson, Director of Software Tom Stanis and CSO (Chief Scientific Officer) Vikram (Vik) Bajaj.
Below is Verily's launch video.
