In this episode, we chat with Alyssa Antonopoulos, a bioinformatician at Natera who spends her days wrangling some of the messiest data in healthcare. We get into the chaos of clinical abstraction, why large language models are exciting (but not magic), and how a single phrase like “last day of therapy” can derail an analysis. Alyssa walks us through Natera’s journey from prenatal testing to cancer monitoring and kidney disease, and we talk about what real-world evidence could look like when the data finally starts playing nice.TIMESTAMPS(0:00) Intro(1:59) Understanding Natera’s Flagship Test(3:34) Natera’s Expansion into Therapeutic Areas(5:09) Real-World Data and Monitoring Frequency(6:40) Data Integration and Abstraction Challenges(9:27) Leveraging Large Language Models for Data Extraction(11:30) Evaluating and Improving Data Accuracy(21:43) Flexible Data Structures for Analysis(23:07) Data Modeling and Oncology Challenges(23:40) Importance of Semantic Definitions(24:27) Data Dictionaries and Abstraction Logic(26:24) Oncology and Chronic Kidney Disease Analyses(27:35) Genomic Landscapes and ctDNA Dynamics(28:25) Kaplan–Meier Analyses in CKD(34:56) Future of Real-World Data and Evidence(38:55) Leading a Data Team: Advice and Insights(42:38) Closing Remarks and Future Plans🔗Links & Resources:Natera Inc: https://www.natera.com/🔔 Subscribe For deep dives and guest interviews about healthcare data, AI, and the future of health tech.🎙️ About High Dimensional Health Data (HD²) HD² is the podcast for people building healthcare’s data and AI future. Hosted by Aaron and Phil, HD² explores the intersection of healthcare, data, and AI, and focuses on conversations with builders and practitioners.HostsPhil Ballentine – Sr Director, Data Engineering at Atropos Health🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-ballentine/Aaron Neiderhiser – Co-Founder and CEO at Tuva Health🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronneiderhiser/GuestsAlyssa Antonopoulo – Senior Director, Data and Informatics (RWD) at Natera 🔗https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssa-antonopoulos/ Interested in working together or coming on the podcast as a guest? Email us at [email protected]