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

Artificial Intelligence: A Catalyst for Innovation in Experimental Structural Biology    
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.

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.

Artificial Intelligence for Precision Medicine and Personalized Therapies 
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).

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.

Advancing Cancer Therapy through Microbiome Profiling
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.

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.