Mohammed Bukhari

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Contact

04Cosmetic safety

SkipLab

An ivory porcelain toy rabbit with gilt details.

1st Place

AFI Global Idea Challenge, at the Organoid Developer Conference, Seoul

SkipLab won 1st Place and $7,000 at the inaugural AFI Global Idea Challenge in Seoul. Our team of five co-developed an AI platform that pre-screens the safety of cosmetic formulas, so skincare makers can skip testing on animals.

Role
Demo code, ML workflow and technical pitch
Team
Five UC Berkeley students
When
January 2025 to the stage on June 14, 2025
Made
A stage prototype for animal-free safety screening

Status Won 1st Place, $7,000. Stage demo with illustrative values.

Context

In January 2025, five of us at Berkeley started with one question: does a new skincare formula really need to be tested on an animal first?

SkipLab was our answer: a screening step that would read a formula before it reaches the lab, flag risky ingredient combinations, and point to the non-animal tests worth running. It was designed to learn from public, peer-reviewed skin-safety data.

What we built

We made the idea something a judge could click through: a prototype that goes from uploading a formula to an analysis, a safety score and a regulatory report.

I wrote the demo code and designed the ML workflow, using peer-reviewed skin-sensitization and toxicology datasets.

Code to comeThe code behind the SkipLab stage prototype.A link to its repository, with keys and private data removed.

On stage

We pitched in June 2025 at the Organoid Developer Conference in Seoul. In a lab coat, I presented the technical half with a teammate, while a toy rabbit named Brian stood in for every animal the tool might spare.

The numbers on screen were illustrative and no model ran behind them, but a judge could follow every step.

The five SkipLab teammates on stage in Seoul holding the AFI Global Idea Challenge 2025 sign reading 1st Prize, $7,000. Mohammed, in a white lab coat, holds a small toy rabbit.
The team with Brian, Seoul, June 2025.

Outcome

  • 1st Place, $7,000, in the inaugural AFI Global Idea Challenge, Seoul, June 14, 2025.

    SourceAFI prize email, June 26, 2025; team certificates, July 22, 2025

  • UC Berkeley’s SCET told the story of the win in a feature about me.

    SourceSCET article, September 4, 2025

Proposed, not yet done

  • A screening model trained on public, peer-reviewed skin-safety data. It was designed for the pitch and never trained.

Links

Credits

Pitched
June 14, 2025
Photos
Animal Free Initiative