June 18, 2025
How a New Duke Startup is Using AI to Help Researchers Work Smarter
When Carly Brantner, Ph.D., a biostatistician and clinical researcher at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), began exploring a new line of research on variation in female hormones across the lifespan, she struggled to find funding opportunities that fit. “I’ve spent hours searching for the right funding announcements,” she said. “Identifying them in time to write a compelling application is always a challenge, and doing so while trying to make sense of the available literature can eliminate some of the time I have to ideate on research directions."
Brantner’s experience isn’t unique. Many researchers face similar roadblocks – time lost to repetitive, manual administrative tasks rather than advancing scientific ideas. These common pain points inspired a new Duke-born startup aiming to change how research gets done.
After working closely with scientists at Duke and across the Research Triangle, Pratt School of Engineering faculty Jon Reifschneider and Dr. Pramod Singh gained appreciation for how much time and effort researchers spent on tasks that could be made easier with the right tools. That insight led them to found Inquisite, a company built on their conviction that technology, especially AI, has the potential to help accelerate scientific progress for a better world.
Inquisite is a platform that uses agentic AI, a type of artificial intelligence that doesn’t just respond to questions, but rather actively assists with tasks, makes decisions, and follows through on goals, helping researchers stay on track throughout a project.
Instead of hours spent combing through databases or manually drafting proposals, Inquisite’s tools aim to handle the tedious parts, such as searching for relevant studies, synthesizing results, and even drafting grant applications so that researchers can focus on big-picture thinking.
Inquisite is built on a custom knowledge graph, a system that organizes scientific information in a way that highlights connections between studies, concepts, and data points, helping researchers find what’s relevant faster, pulling data from scientific literature, clinical trials, patents, and more. “You can ask it something like, ‘What’s the current evidence linking sleep patterns to depression?’ and within seconds, it pulls up peer-reviewed studies, links related trials, and even explains how the findings connect,” said Singh. “It doesn’t just give you answers, it helps you think.”
At a recent Innovation Spotlight hosted by i-Cubed, the DCRI’s center for clinical research innovation, Reifschneider gave a live demo of two of Inquisite’s main features: Research Assistant and Grants Assistant. The first helps users search and summarize scientific literature, complete with cited sources. The second scans for relevant funding opportunities and even helps draft proposal language.
“Innovation in clinical research isn’t just about new discoveries, it’s also about finding better ways to do the work,” said i-Cubed Operations Director Donna Parker.“ Tools like Inquisite support that kind of progress by making the research process itself more efficient, transparent, and ultimately, more impactful.”
i-Cubed is currently working with Inquisite to help the team identify early adopters and use cases in clinical trial research organizations. Inquisite is actively gathering feedback from researchers to refine and expand its capabilities, including agents for trial design and data analysis. “We’re not building this in a vacuum. The only way to get it right is to refine it alongside the people who are actively using it,” commented Reifschneider.
Inquisite, now available as a subscription-based service, is structured as a public benefit corporation, a type of company committed not just to profit but to public good. In this case, that means making research faster, more accurate, and more accessible.
“If a tool like this can support some of the most time-consuming parts of our work, it will help researchers focus on the bigger picture in study design and analyzing data more effectively,” said Brantner. “That’s not just a win for researchers, it’s a win for those affected by our research. Faster, smarter research means better treatments can reach people sooner.”
To learn more, watch the full recording of the session here or visit Inquisite.ai.
About i-Cubed
i-Cubed™ is the center for clinical research innovation, powered by the unique expertise and resources of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. The center supports individuals, teams, and organizations in turning their ideas into tools, technologies, and processes that transform how clinical research is done — for the benefit of people everywhere.
The Innovation Spotlight is an event series hosted by i-Cubed designed to showcase early-stage startups, tools, technologies, and ideas that are actively transforming clinical research.
Contact: icubedcenter@duke.edu
