/ About
Two founders.
Complementary expertise.
Archer Bricker Consulting was founded in 2026 by Justin Bricker and Derek Archer — a senior software engineer and a neuroscience Ph.D. — to serve the gap between modern data engineering and rigorous life sciences research.
Why we built this
Academic research labs are dramatically underserved when it comes to modern data engineering. Most rely on ad-hoc scripts written by graduate students — no version control, no infrastructure, institutional knowledge lost every time a student graduates.
At the same time, biotech companies and pharmaceutical firms increasingly need the kind of specialized scientific expertise — neuroimaging analysis, biostatistics, grant strategy — that is hard to hire for full-time.
We fill both gaps. Derek brings active faculty-level research expertise and deep scientific credibility. Justin brings senior engineering capability and modern cloud-native practices. Together we can take a project from grant writing through data pipeline design to statistical analysis and publication.
We are a boutique firm: the founders are on every engagement, rates are transparent, and we build and deliver — not just advise.
Justin Bricker
Co-Founder · Technical Lead
Certifications
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
CKAD (Kubernetes)
Microsoft Exam 483 (C#)
Justin is a software engineer and data scientist with 10+ years of experience building production data pipelines, machine learning systems, and cloud infrastructure across multiple industries including healthcare analytics, live events, and energy.
He has created full-stack, business-critical software and customer-facing applications at scale. He believes in well-tested, extensible code, data-driven decisions, and mentoring as a force multiplier.
Experience
Senior Software Engineer, Data
AcuityMD · 2023 – Present
Medical device analytics platform
Staff Software Engineer
Eventbrite · 2021 – 2023
Large-scale event discovery and data infrastructure
Senior Software Engineer
Eventbrite · 2019 – 2021
Machine Learning Consultant
University of Florida · 2018 – 2019
Co-authored AID-P in The Lancet Digital Health
Software Developer
Infinite Energy · 2016 – 2019
CI/CD pipelines, ETL, Agile Metrics platform
Education
M.S. Computational Science · Florida State University, 2015
B.S. Mathematics · University of Florida, 2013
Skills
Derek Archer, Ph.D.
Co-Founder · Scientific Lead
Impact
47+
Publications
2,060+
Citations
25
h-index
$1M+
NIH Funding
Derek is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a faculty member of the Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer's Center. His research develops advanced neuroimaging and machine learning methods to identify brain signatures of neurodegeneration in aging and Alzheimer's disease.
He has published 47+ peer-reviewed papers in journals including The Lancet Digital Health, Brain, JAMA Neurology, and Alzheimer's & Dementia, and has secured $1M+ in NIH/NIA funding as PI. He serves as an NIH study section reviewer and ad hoc reviewer for ~20 journals including Nature Medicine.
Research focus
Neuroimaging Biomarkers
Advanced diffusion MRI methods to detect early white matter changes in aging and Alzheimer's disease.
Computational Genetics
GWAS, polygenic risk scores, and gene expression analyses integrated with neuroimaging.
White Matter Neurodegeneration
Longitudinal MRI characterization of microstructural decline across aging and neurological disorders.
AI-Derived Brain Signatures
Deep neural networks for brain age prediction from MRI scans as a biomarker for cognitive impairment.
Positions
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Vanderbilt University Medical Center · 2021 – Present
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer's Center · 2019 – 2021
Education
Ph.D. Applied Physiology & Kinesiology · University of Florida, 2019
M.S. Applied Physiology & Kinesiology · University of Florida, 2016
B.S. Biomedical Engineering · Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Skills
Interested in working with us?
Every engagement is led by the founders.