Isaak, originally from Austria, studied mathematics at UC Berkeley. After finishing high school early, he took several gap years during which he worked for a neurotech startup, for a neurology research group at Oxford, and ran a $1M social non-profit. Isaak, while in the group, was interested in high-resolution computational models of neuronal circuits, including those of small animals like C. elegans. After graduating with an MS, he went on to found a company.