Epistemix

The story of Epistemix begins long before its official founding, rooted in decades of academic research at the University of Pittsburgh. In the early 2000s, Dr. Donald Burke and Dr. John Grefenstette, two leading figures in epidemiology and public health, began developing a powerful modeling system known as FRED (Framework for Reconstructing Epidemiological Dynamics). Their goal was to create a tool that could simulate the spread of infectious diseases with unprecedented accuracy, using synthetic populations that mirrored the real world down to the individual level. For years, this technology remained a specialized academic asset, used primarily to understand and predict public health crises.

In 2018, recognizing the potential of this technology to solve complex problems beyond just epidemiology, Burke and Grefenstette teamed up with John Cordier to spin the technology out into a commercial entity. Thus, Epistemix was born. The trio sought to democratize access to these advanced simulations, enabling organizations across various sectors—from government agencies to event organizers—to forecast outcomes and manage risks with confidence. By simulating how people behave and interact in a statistically accurate virtual world, Epistemix empowers leaders to test strategies and make data-driven decisions in an increasingly complex and interconnected society.