Brian Napack Joins DataJoint as Strategic Advisor to Advance Data Management and AI in Scientific Research

HOUSTON, Oct. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- DataJoint, a leading informatics platform revolutionizing data management and analysis in scientific research and the life sciences sector, announced that Brian Napack has joined the company as a strategic advisor and investor. 

Napack brings decades of leadership in education, research, publishing, and media, along with a passion for scaling innovation that delivers lasting, positive impact.  He is the former CEO of John Wiley (WLY), one of the world's largest publishers and providers of tech-enabled services that power scientific research and education. Currently, he serves as the Executive Chairman of 2U, the leading enabler of digital higher education, and as a board member for RBmedia, the world's largest audio book publisher and Elentra, the leading platform for education in the health professions. Napack is also an active advisor and investor in early-stage companies in research and education.

Throughout his career, Napack has demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing the productivity and impact of science and education.  He has served as President of Macmillan, the global publisher; Chairman of the Association of American Publishers (AAP); Senior Advisor at Providence Equity, a leading education investor; Partner at L.E.K. Consulting and co-head of its media practice; founder of ThinkBox, a digital education company, and founder of Disney Education for The Walt Disney Company.

"DataJoint and its groundbreaking computational database are delivering on an elusive but critical goal – increasing the ROI that the world gets from its enormous investment in scientific research," said Brian Napack. "As DataJoint succeeds, it is harmonizing the increasing amounts of disparate data produced across labs and institutions, enhancing both collaboration and reproducibility, and enabling increasingly rapid scientific discovery. I'm very excited to be supporting this remarkable team and its important mission."

"Brian's extensive experience in education, research, and technology is perfectly aligned with DataJoint's mission to transform research and data management and analysis workflows across academic research and the life sciences," said Jim Olson, CEO of DataJoint. "We are thrilled to have him join us as a strategic advisor, and his guidance will be invaluable as we accelerate our impact in this space."

DataJoint recently closed a $4.9M Seed funding round, co-led by Nina Capital, Inoca Capital Partners, and Capital Factory, to scale its operations, enhance its SaaS platform, and expand into commercial life sciences and pharmaceutical markets. Used by over 100 research labs, including top-tier institutions such as Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Harvard, and UCL, DataJoint addresses critical challenges in fragmented data management, reproducibility, and collaboration.

With Brian Napack's expertise and a newly secured funding round, DataJoint is poised to transform data management and the use of AI in research, accelerating scientific discovery in labs, academic institutions, and commercial life sciences settings worldwide. 

Media Contact:
DataJoint
Doug Welsh, CRO
[email protected]   

SOURCE DataJoint