Why I
Pioneer

In the Army, Tyler completed Ranger School, an elite military training program that pushed him beyond his perceived limits and showed him firsthand what people are capable of under extreme conditions. He later played a role in a NATO-led mission in Bosnia to stabilize the region helping to end a civil war, repatriate displaced citizens, and support democratic elections. Working alongside organizations like the United Nations, Doctors Without Borders, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, he witnessed the power of collaboration, resilience, and ambition.

This experience deepened his belief in the ability of people to drive extraordinary change, even in the most challenging circumstances. Now at Flagship, he applies these principles to foster a culture where individuals and teams can thrive, ensuring they have support to push beyond what seems possible.

Tyler’s passion for pioneering was inspired by his father, a North Carolina politician who came out as gay in 1979 and became a fierce advocate for healthcare access and dignity during the AIDS crisis. His father’s legacy of justice and advocacy continues to drive Tyler’s mission to create environments where people thrive. For Tyler, pioneering is also an act of service and a commitment to creating a better future. As a father of two young daughters, he is driven to build a world where they have equal opportunities to achieve their dreams.

During her PhD research, the exploration of an uncharted area of robotics — creative problem-solving — inspired Lakshmi’s passion for AI. Robots are typically assumed to have all the tools they need, but she challenged this assumption, asking, "What if a robot doesn’t have the tools it needs? How can it improvise?" This research demonstrated that robots could repurpose objects in their environment, a concept that opened a new frontier in robotics. This experience reinforced her curiosity for solving big problems.

Lakshmi’s work at Flagship may also have profound applications, particularly in therapeutic development, drug discovery, and protein synthesis. Her work focuses on designing AI agents that can analyze vast scientific literature, generate hypotheses, and automate research, increasing efficiency and accelerating breakthroughs. Beyond healthcare, her AI models could transform fields from autonomous research and development to scientific decision-making, expanding the possibilities of AI-driven innovation.

Lakshmi’s pioneering role model is the concept of multi-potentiality, a celebration of individuals with diverse interests, intellectual pursuits, and interlocking potentials. She discovered this idea in Emilie Wapnick’s TED Talk and immediately resonated with its message and her interdisciplinary scientific approach that bridges fields like cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and physics to redefine how AI can think creatively.

For Lakshmi, pioneering isn’t just about advancing AI, it’s about inspiring others to think broadly and differently. She hopes her work encourages future scientists to push boundaries, ask bold questions, and tap into their own creativity to develop impactful technology.

While completing his Ph.D., Hozefa took a bold risk in his research on receptor-ligand interactions and pursued a hypothesis that defied conventional views. For four years, his data supported his idea — until one critical experiment disproved his theory. Though a devastating setback, instead of giving up, Hozefa reinterpreted his valid observations, leading to a breakthrough in allergy and asthma research that earned an article in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. Ultimately, he learned the importance of taking risks and that failure is a step toward discovery.

This mindset led him to Pfizer during a critical time for immune-related disease research. While most therapeutic research focused on targeting immune cells, he proposed a non-conventional approach of targeting their energy sources by studying metabolic pathways; a concept initially met with some valid concerns about the novelty of this approach. Hozefa learned that overcoming resistance to change demands the ability to bring people along, unite diverse perspectives, and address concerns. His skill in rallying support was pivotal in driving Pfizer to invest in pioneering in the nascent field of immunometabolism which later grew to become an entire academic movement.

Hozefa sees equitable access as the next critical frontier in healthcare, a disparity he would like to tackle and make a lasting change. While medicine has advanced from treatment to cures and prevention, access to transformative therapies remains limited, benefiting only a portion of the population. He believes that pioneering bold, innovative science and risk-taking will be essential in making this a reality.