Mission
Praxis Mission: To democratize access to skills, resources, and AI for the purpose of solving some of the world’s toughest challenges.
You Can Become a Change Agent for Good
One of nature’s greatest examples of positive change is the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Together, we can collaborate to end cancer, grow the food supply, and improve climate resilience
Praxis is the Catalyst for Personal Metamorphosis
The Praxis AI LXP and Pria AI Mentor combine to create a digital cocoon where you can nurture your new skills, participate in meaningful research, and earn credentials.
Change Begins with You
It is time for you to learn, apply, validate, discover, and earn to become the best version of yourself! If not now … when?
Transform Yourself. Change the World!
Values
Praxis AI solutions accomplish sustained personal and global change by empowering underserved students (HBCU and AIHEC, for example) with experiential online science education and data-intensive research. At the heart of the programs are digital credentials, employment assistance, and the popular BioHackers podcast.
Praxis AI is an award-winning digital education & research company dedicated to solving many of the world’s toughest problems, including climate change, inequality in education, cancer, hunger, cultural resilience, and global digital transformation. In 2022, Praxis AI won three Stevie AwardsTM including Startup of the Year, Educator of the Year (Alex Feltus), and the nation’s best hackathon for the Meharry Paseman Cancer BioHackathon.
Founded in 2019, Praxis AI has revolutionized learning at several U.S. universities, built a virtual institute for indigenous health research, designed a Digital Learning standard for the International Standards Organization (ISO), educated thousands of students, and hosted several cancer BioHackathons.
From a technology perspective, Praxis AI pioneered the application and integration of AI and machine learning into a single, cohesive educational experience, including curation, assessment, mentoring, hands-on labs, research, and workforce enablement. In addition, the company has incorporated cloud-based supercomputing, asynchronous learning journeys, synchronous virtual classrooms, and social collaboration for the purpose of skilling, research, and workforce development.
From an operations perspective, the self-funded Praxis AI team comprises ed tech innovators, world-class engineers, and award-winning professors while connecting education institutions, government agencies (NSF and NIH), and employers with cohorts of underserved, amazing, smart students. The Praxis AI-powered Learning Experience Platform (LXP) is hosted in a highly secure, global cloud.
Praxis AI is a sustainable, mission-driven, technology and service organization.
Meet the Team
Alex Feltus, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist Officer
Alex is a world-renowned professor and researcher in artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, cyberinfrastructure, high-performance computing, network biology, tumor biology, agrigenomics, genome assembly, systems genetics, paleogenomics, and bioenergy feedstock genetics. As Chief Science Officer of Praxis AI, he runs the Praxis Open Discovery (POD) labs and drives product innovation, data-intensive computing research, and biohackathons.
Alex received a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from Auburn University in 1992, served two years in the Peace Corps in the Fiji Islands, and then completed advanced training in biomedical sciences at Vanderbilt and Emory. Currently, Feltus is Professor in Clemson University’s Dept. of Genetics & Biochemistry.
Feltus has published over one-hundred scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, released open-source software, and taught undergrad and PhD students in bioinformatics, biochemistry, and genetics. Alex’s work has been cited over 10,000 times. He is funded by multiple NSF grants and is engaged in tethering together extremely smart people from diverse technical backgrounds to propel genomics research from the Excel-scale into the Exascale.
David James Clarke IV
Global Managing Partner
David has been a digital learning pioneer for more than 25 years. As Global Managing Partner of Praxis AI, he leads a world-class team of ed tech innovators, talented engineers, and award-winning professors in a mission to connect education institutions, non-profit stakeholders (NSF and NIH), and employers with cohorts of underserved, amazing, smart students (aka, BioHackers). He is also best-selling author, patented Innovator, podcaster, and genetics graduate from the University of California, Berkeley.
David works with the executive leadership of educational institutions and Fortune 500 enterprises to drive their strategic digital transformation initiatives. To meet clients’ rapidly evolving digital needs, he has always kept at the leading edge of innovation. Driven by a passion for helping students achieve their dreams and enterprises engage and retain talent, Clarke was the primary architect of the Praxis LXP. The platform integrates AI and machine learning into a single, cohesive educational experience, including curation, assessment, mentoring, hands-on labs, research, and workforce enablement.
David’s track record of success includes numerous projects that have helped some of the world’s largest companies and learning institutions achieve measurable results using innovative digital learning products and the Praxis LXP platform.
Reed Bender
Generative AI Engineer
Reed is a computational biologist with a particular interest in understanding how complex order arises in informational networks – both biological and artificial. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering and a Master’s degree in Biomedical Data Science from Clemson University, he went on to pursue pharmaceutical drug research and development. Shortly thereafter, Reed shifted his focus to engineering tools that allow students and researchers across the globe to leverage the magic of AI for education and self-empowerment.
Reed’s personal mission is to understand how the structure of informational networks leads to the emergence of complex systems. In studying the similarities between neural networks, genetics, neuroanatomy, and computer engineering, Reed has developed a unique breadth of knowledge that helps him to create technologies across a diverse array of niches.
Ian Hendershot
Learning Solutions
Just a happy little shadow that lives in there. You could sit here for weeks with your one hair brush trying to do that – or you could do it with one stroke with an almighty brush. This is an example of what you can do with just a few things, a little imagination and a happy dream in your heart. I’m going to mix up a little color. We’ll use Van Dyke Brown, Permanent Red, and a little bit of Prussian Blue. Let’s build some happy little clouds up here. Here’s something that’s fun.
The only prerequisite is that it makes you happy. If it makes you happy then it’s good. We don’t have to be committed. We are just playing here. All you have to learn here is how to have fun. You better get your coat out, this is going to be a cold painting.
We might as well make some Almighty mountains today as well, what the heck. I thought today we would make a happy little stream that’s just running through the woods here. Nice little fluffy clouds laying around in the sky being lazy. You’re meant to have fun in life. We’ll take a little bit of Van Dyke Brown. Let’s make some happy little clouds in our world.
