Built at the intersection of the bench and the notebook
NeuroPenetrance is developed at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin, one of Germany's leading research centers for molecular medicine.
Nella Christie Delva, PhD
Founder — Neuroscientist & Data AnalystNella's doctoral research at Florida State University examined D1 dopamine receptor signaling in the medial prefrontal cortex and its role in stress resiliency and mood regulation. She is a Fulbright Research Fellow, a McKnight Doctoral Fellow, and a recipient of the Germanistic Society of America Award.
Her Fulbright fellowship placed her at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, working hands-on in the Hammes Lab with iPSC culturing, differentiation, immunohistochemistry, and fluorescent imaging — the direct scientific foundation behind NeuroPenetrance's Engine 1. She built and validated the Engine 2 machine-learning pipeline independently, pairing that lab background with formal data science training in Python, SQL, and machine learning.
Dr. Annette Hammes
Academic Mentor — MDC BerlinGroup Leader, Molecular Pathways in Cortical Development, at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine. Dr. Hammes' research focuses on Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling in forebrain development — the biological foundation underlying NeuroPenetrance's model of incomplete penetrance. Her laboratory provides the validated hiPSC lines, differentiation protocols, and research infrastructure that underpin Engine 1, committed as in-kind support for NeuroPenetrance.
Why this team
NeuroPenetrance's founding team spans both product engines by design. Experimental neuroscience — hiPSC workflows, RNAscope, immunohistochemistry, multi-omics, electrophysiology — sits alongside data analytics and machine learning — SQL, Python, BigQuery, Pandas, scikit-learn, Plotly. That rare combination means both engines can be developed by the founding team in Year 1, without requiring an external technical co-founder — a meaningful cost and speed advantage during the earliest, highest-risk phase of the company.