AI4LifeSciences

Recording of the webinar:

AI meets Life Sciences:
Novel Approaches to Healthcare and Drug Development

30 April 2024, 14:00 CET


Webinar organised by EuroCC Austria and VSC Research Center (TU Wien)
Language: English
Location: Online (Zoom)
Price: free
Registration closed

This webinar delves into one of the most crucial and intriguing questions for humanity: How can we accelerate the development of new medications and revolutionise healthcare?

For answers, we look into artificial intelligence and supercomputing – technologies that are enabling entirely new approaches to science and research. 

At the webinar, leading professionals in life sciences will guide you through the landscape of AI tools in structural biology with a focus on the groundbreaking AlphaFold, discuss the role of AI for personalised medical therapies and explore the role of supercomputers in this endeavor. 

Join us as we unravel answers to some of the most captivating questions in the domain of life sciences and ignite fresh perspectives! 

Agenda
14:00     Welcome
  Eva Gergely (project manager and team lead at Vienna University Computer Center, dept. IT-Support for Research)
14:10 

Artificial Intelligence: A Catalyst for Innovation in Experimental Structural Biology 

  

This overview critically examines the landscape of artificial intelligence tools in structural biology, spanning from the transformative capabilities of AlphaFold2 in predicting protein structures to the emerging potential of diffusion-based protein design methods. It delves into the strengths, limitations, and unique contributions of each AI tool, highlighting how they are reshaping our approach in protein design and structure-based protein research.

Speaker:  Wouter Van Putte    
The CEO and Co-Founder of PUXANO, a platform-based company focusing on protein design and structure-guided protein research. He has a PhD and master’s degree in biochemistry and structural biology and a licentiate degree in philosophy and moral sciences. His main ambition is to use innovative protein science to drive a positive impact.

14:35   

Artificial Intelligence for Precision Medicine and Personalized Therapies

  

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere – but what does it mean for precision medicine? We use epigenome data and machine learning to infer the developmental history and future potential of single cells, and we work on “programming” cells as biological computers for personalized immune therapy.

Speaker: Christoph Bock   
Professor of Medical Informatics at the Medical University of Vienna, head of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Medical Data Science, and Principal Investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. His research combines experimental biology (single-cell sequencing, epigenetics, CRISPR screening, synthetic biology) with computational methods (bioinformatics, machine learning, artificial intelligence) – for cancer, immunology, and precision medicine (https://bocklab.org & https://twitter.com/BockLab).

15:00 

Advancing Cancer Therapy through Microbiome Profiling

  

Barbara Sladek, co-founder of Biome Diagnostics GmbH, will offer valuable insights into the gut microbiome, sharing the latest scientific discoveries and shedding light on how the company utilizes data to decode its secrets. The human intestinal microbiome consists of a dynamic multispecies community of trillions of bacteria. Identifying the multitude of pathways in which the symbiotic microbiome interacts with the human body is hence an exceedingly complex undertaking. Only with the power of AI and advanced bioinformatic algorithms are we able to decipher the secrets of the intestinal microbiome and use these insights for medical purposes. Barbara Sladek will present the newest research in this area and the potential it holds for doctors and patients.

Speaker: Barbara Sladek
Established in 2018, Biome Diagnostics GmbH was founded by Barbara Sladek, following her successful completion of a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford and an MBA at the WU Executive Academy, together with Nikolaus Gasche. The central focus: to leverage the gut microbiome for medical diagnostics. In addition to her passion for the gut microbiome, Sladek co-founded an association to empower women in the healthcare and IT sectors (women-in-HealthIT) and regularly teaches at universities. Barbara Sladek has already received several awards for her work.

15:25 TBA
  

 

15:55 Q&A + open end

 

Prices and eligibility

This webinar is offered free of charge for participants from industry, academia and public administration from the Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU) and Associated/Other Countries to the Horizon 2020 programme.

Contact

events@eurocc-austria.at

SPECIAL OFFER

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>> Looking for funding opportunities for projects in the fields of AI / Data Analytics / HPC?

 

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Apply here: www.eurocc-access.eu

Organisers

EuroCC Austria – National Competence Centre for Supercomputing, Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence – helps businesses, academia and the public sector to adopt and leverage advanced computing technologies. It is coordinated by Advanced Computing Austria (ACA) with the University of Vienna, TU Wien and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), in close cooperation with business incubator INiTS.  

VSC Research Center (TU Wien) is a collaboration of Austrian universities that provides supercomputing resources and support to scientists and researchers.

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