Today the Biogerontology and Regenerative
Medicine Center (BRMC) announced the formation of a new analytical team
comprised of theoretical physicists, mathematicians, biologists and computer
scientists and the launch of the first modules of the Aging Intelligence
knowledge management system. The team’s first analytical model deemed “Analytical
Regenerative Medicine Industry Framework” (ISBN: 978-0-9912902-0-8) was
presented to a group of young scientists and medical doctors at the new office
in the city center of Moscow, who were invited to participate in editing and
contributing content to the new system.
"Governments
spend tens of billions annually on biomedical sciences and that knowledge is
disseminated freely on the Internet. Corporations spend as much as governments
or more, but do not publish their findings as actively. Predictive intelligence
is possible only by grooming data from a broad spectrum of sources and applying
machine-learning algorithms. By attracting the brightest minds in theoretical
physics, machine learning and computer science at the Moscow Institute of
Physics and Technology and pairing them with the experienced financiers from
the West, we are hoping to develop decision support systems that will help in
both investment planning and building roadmaps. We decided to take our first
shot at the regenerative medicine industry. ", said Andrey Garazha, the
director of the Biogerontology and Regenerative Medicine Center adjacent to the
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
In partnership with the First Open
Institute for Regenerative Medicine for Young Scientists (FOIRMYS) and the UMA
Foundation, the BRMC performed a brief training session on the investment
fundamentals and announced the launch of a virtual investment simulation, where
young scientists are encouraged to compete on forming model investment
portfolios comprised of publically-traded companies in regenerative medicine as
well as the options on the stocks of these companies. The winners of the
competition will be offered positions at the BRMC.
"We salute
the efforts of this new team of young and ambitious scientists who are
developing sophisticated mechanisms and non-parametric analytical tools that do
not simply make predictions using historic trends, but incorporate data from a
variety of sources and react to the expected and unexpected research
breakthroughs to dynamically adjust both investment portfolios and research
pipelines. There are hedge funds in the US that profited from the genius of the
“quants” coming from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the fact
that some of the brilliant minds like Andrey Garazha will now turn their
attention on building models and knowledge management systems for dynamic
roadmaping of biomedical sciences.", said Alex Zhavoronkov, the director
of the Biogerontology Research Foundation in the UK and the adjunct professor
of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Like computers in the 80s, the Internet in
the 90s and social networks in the past decade, biogerontology is the next big
frontier in investment potential. Not only it is the most worthy altruistic
cause that has the power to save billions of lives and take our quality of life
to the next level, it is the most promising area for capital preservation and
appreciation. The intelligent Big Data-driven approach to investment analysis
and decision making may not only assist with making better investment choices,
but also help advance the areas that maximize the longevity dividend and result
in cures rather than in treatments.
“We are glad that
for the ambitious quest of solving aging in-silico will commence on the
powerful ASUS hardware. ASUSTek is one of the world’s leaders in
high-performance IT solutions and in Russia we support Dr. Zhavoronkov’s lab at
the largest pediatric oncology center. Andrey Garazha and some of his team
members have long been the ASUS Fellows in bioinformatics and medical
information technology.”, said Alex Kim, the director of ASUSTek in Russia.
ABOUT
BRMC
Information analysis Center of Biogerontology
and Regenerative Medicine is based on Laboratory of Genetics of Aging and
Longevity of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. The Center has
been constituted for aging research and development of innovative
life-extension technologies. Our partners are MIPT, “Northern”
Biopharmaceutical Cluster, FSCC PHOI n.a. Dmitry Rogachev and The The
Biogerontology Research Foundation.
The Centre is aimed to analyze anti-aging
technologies, to overview perspective research guidelines, to create databases
of aging biomarkers and geroprotectors, to design educational programs for
learning age-related processes and possible ways to control them. By organizing
seminars and conferences The Centre will promote development of international
collaboration in the areas of biogerontology.
ABOUT
UMA Foundation
The UMA Foundation is one of the leading
non-profit organizations in Russia that supports young scientists and promotes
scientific research. It was set up to revitalize Russian science and to encourage
renewed enthusiasm and passion for science and innovation – values that are
sometimes lacking in the younger generation. The foundation is governed by
leading academics, heads of universities and prominent business people. Among
its many other activities, the organization supports the “First Open Institute
for Regenerative Medicine for Young Scientists”, a rapidly growing volunteer
initiative that was set up by expatriate scientists as a means of providing
hundreds of young scientists with weekly lectures by leading international
thinkers as well as promoting goal-oriented scientific collaboration.
About
FOIRMYS
FOIRMYS provides regular weekly lectures by
the top academic and industry thought leaders, investors and regulators. The
list of presenters includes Paolo Macchiarini (Karolinska Institute), Alexey
Aravin (Caltech), Charles Cantor (Boston U, ex-director of the Human Genome
Project), Augustinus Bader (Leipzig University), top managers from Beijing
Genomics Institute, Malaysian Genome Resource Center, Indigo Capital Partners
and many others.
Members work in small teams comprised of
scientists and physicians on ambitious outlier projects in aging and
regenerative medicine with topics ranging from mineralization of connective
tissue, HGPS and regulation of endometriosis to industry overviews and
healthcare economics. The projects are coordinated in a crowdsourced
environment and rely heavily on popular tools like Facebook, Dropbox and Google
Apps. FOIRMYS developed a concept called “Personalized Medicine”, where
projects are centered around the problems of a single patient, who provides
samples and helps coordinate the project. Members also learn how to promote
their work, create personal science blogs (including Women in Science
initiative) and engage in industry outreach.
Participation in practical group projects
resulted in success stories including young scientists’ publications in
peer-reviewed journals, fellowships, participation in international
conferences, gainful employment of young scientists and international
collaborations.
