The ongoing research on artificial intelligence methods for precision cancer medicine at the Computational Biomodeling (Combio) Laboratory of Åbo Akademi University and Turku Centre for Computer Science (TUCS) got a major boost with renewed funding from Business Finland.
The concept of this project is that a patient's own molecular data can be used to identify, with the use of artificial intelligence methods, the best combinatorial multi-drug therapy for that patient. Network modelling plays a major role in this line of work, integrating genome-scale patient data into detailed interaction networks, that can be analysed by Combio's recently developed algorithms to identify combinations of drugs and inhibitors that are likely to be therapeutically effective. The project focuses on individual patients with the goal to dynamically adapt their therapeutical strategies to avoid the onset of drug resistance.
In addition to the Computational Biomodeling Laboratory, the project involves 4 Finnish companies (Misvik Biology, Medi Sapiens, Orion Pharma, Euformatics). The renowned US-based Moffitt Cancer Research Centre in Tampa, Florida is a new key contributor to the project, with large patient data sets and extensive validation capabilities. The infrastructure available at the Moffitt Cancer Research Centre gives access to extensive patient samples, gene editing techniques, genome scale analysis, and translational studies. This gives a very short cycle between computational predictions and experimental validation.
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Business Finland has awarded the Computational Biomodeling Laboratory 288.000 EUR for 12 months to advance along this line of research. The project is led by Dr. Eugen Czeizler and Prof. Ion Petre at Åbo Akademi University's Computer Science.