The Second Big Data Science in Medicine 2014

Big Data Science is Revolutionizing Medicine. Soon, it'll Transform Medicine and Help us All Live Healthier and Longer Lives.
Come Join the Revolution at The Second Big Data Science in Medicine 2014 at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
This event is FREE to attend, but places are limited. Register for free here: http://bit.ly/oxfordmed

Big Data Science is Revolutionizing Medicine. Soon, it'll Transform Medicine and Help Us All Live Healthier and Longer Lives.
Come Join the Revolution at The Second Big Data Science in Medicine 2014 in Oxford.

-> This event is FREE to attend, but places are limited. Register for free here: http://bit.ly/oxfordmed
-> When: 8th December, 4:00pm to 10:00pm
-> Where: Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
-> Conference Website: http://www.bigdatamed.org/
-> Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1395150700730417/
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Sponsored by: Deep Knowledge Ventures, and InSilico Medicine
Organised by: Biogerontology Research Foundation, and Oxford Biotech
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Speakers:
-> Richard Barker (Director, CASMI, Oxford and UCL)
-> Kazem Rahimi (Associate Director, The George Institute for Global Health)
-> Olga Kovalchuk (Research Chair, The Canadian Institute of Health Research)
-> Dmitry Kaminskiy (VC, Deep Knowledge Ventures)
-> Anders Sandberg (Researcher, Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford)
-> Thomas Wilckens (CEO, InnVentis)
-> Maneesh Juneja (MJ Analytics)
-> Morten Middelfart (CIO, Genomic Expression Inc.)
-> Stephen Johnston (Co-founder, Aging 2.0)
-> Steven Gardner (CEO, Row Analytics)
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Kindly hosted by: Saïd Business School and Oxford Biotech

Artificial Intelligence in the boardroom?

Some think that one day robots will take over the tedious work that still keeps many humans occupied on a day to day basis. But what about having a robot on a board of directors? Isn’t that the stuff of science-fiction?

Apparently not. Deep Knowledge Ventures (DKV), a Hong Kong based venture capital fund which invests in life sciences, cancer research, age-related diseases and regenerative medicine, has appointed an artificial intelligence algorithm called VITAL (Validating Investment Tool for Advancing Life Sciences) to its board of directors. DKV insists that this is more than a publicity stunt: VITAL is capable of providing the board with data analysis that can absorb and evaluate efficiently huge amounts of data, is unbiased, disinterested and has no problems to reason logically. It can also pick up market trends not immediately obvious to humans.
DKV’s board will not make any decisions without taking the advice of VITAL into consideration and the algorithm has been given a seat on the board. The long term goal of DKV and VITAL’s creator, Aging Analytics (a UK company) is that VITAL be able to make completely autonomous decisions and to vote independently on company business.

Legal technicalities aside, one could argue that VITAL is just a piece of software and lacks any qualities that a “proper” director would have. But AI programmes called “learning cognitive agents” develop fast and can already converse with humans, learn, understand the meaning of words and sentences and make suggestions or provide answers to complex questions. So who knows where this could lead for a programme like VITAL?

Where does that leave the law?

UK law allows legal entities other than natural persons to be company directors e.g. bodies corporate. Understandably, there is no provision about intelligent machines which are certainly not recognised as legal entities in their own right.

It is interesting to speculate whether it is possible or desirable for the law to evolve in this area. Let’s make the big assumption that humans could even perceive an advanced cognitive agent like a more personable version of VITAL as a person and not a mere tool. Lots of theoretical and practical questions would arise. For example, in what realistic sense could a machine be held accountable for its decisions in the way that human directors can be? How would a machine bind the company, e.g. conclude contracts or dismiss employees? Can a machine retire, get “ill” or make legally acceptable excuses for poor performance or violation of regulations?

The UK government is proposing to introduce a general ban on corporate directors. One of the reasons for this is to ensure transparency and accountability with respect to the individuals influencing the company (which assumes, of course, that a human director is more transparent and accountable than AI, which is philosophically interesting). So it seems we are currently moving in the opposite direction from the futuristic vision of AI on the board. But who knows?! Watch this space …

Ageing and Health:Policy and Economics in Era of Longevity

How can societies meet the health, policy and economic challenges of global population ageing?
One in nine people in the world is 60 or older and this is expected to rise to one in five people by 2050. A globally ageing population and the associated demographic changes have wide-ranging implications for health systems, medical priorities, economic policies, and labour and consumer markets.
The certainty of global population ageing demands greater action, innovation, and a long-term approach from policymakers, health and medical professionals as well as businesses. This conference will address critical questions, including:

• Are current health, public policy and economic responses to global ageing adequate?
• How can health systems develop sustainable strategies to support an ageing global population?
• How can the challenge of managing chronic conditions be met and at what cost?
• How can societies address the financial impact of ageing populations?
• Are businesses reacting quickly enough to an ageing workforce and consumer base?

The Chatham House Rule
To enable as open a debate as possible, this conference will be held under the Chatham House Rule.
Twitter
Suggested hashtag: #CHageing
- See more at: http://www.chathamhouse.org/conferences/ageing#sthash.0PtPg2k0.jBOUnev7.dpuf

How can societies meet the health, policy and economic challenges of global population ageing?
One in nine people in the world is 60 or older and this is expected to rise to one in five people by 2050. A globally ageing population and the associated demographic changes have wide-ranging implications for health systems, medical priorities, economic policies, and labour and consumer markets.
The certainty of global population ageing demands greater action, innovation, and a long-term approach from policymakers, health and medical professionals as well as businesses. This conference will address critical questions, including:

• Are current health, public policy and economic responses to global ageing adequate?
• How can health systems develop sustainable strategies to support an ageing global population?
• How can the challenge of managing chronic conditions be met and at what cost?
• How can societies address the financial impact of ageing populations?
• Are businesses reacting quickly enough to an ageing workforce and consumer base?

The Chatham House Rule
To enable as open a debate as possible, this conference will be held under the Chatham House Rule.
Twitter
Suggested hashtag: #CHageing
- See more at: http://www.chathamhouse.org/conferences/ageing#sthash.0PtPg2k0.jBOUnev7.dpuf

Chatham House, London

Chatham House, London

The Ageless Generation in Japan

Ageing and Health: Policy and Economics in an Era of Longevity - See more at: http://www.chathamhouse.org/conferences/ageing#sthash.0PtPg2k0.jBOUnev7.dpuf

Big Data science in Medicine: second 2014 Symposium

Intersting event! Don't miss it! The new BDSM University of Oxford is coming up in December! Please register while tickets are still available. For speaker slots and sponsorship opportunities please contact the organizer and MC, Avi Roy.
http://www.bigdatamed.org/ .

Insilico Medicine, Inc announces research collaboration with Champions Oncology, Inc

Baltimore, MD, November 6, 2014 - Insilico Medicine, Inc, a Baltimore-based bioinformatics company focused on research in aging and age related diseases announced a research collaboration with the international leader in personalized medicine of cancer, Champions Oncology, Inc (OTC: CSBR).
"There are many companies utilizing advances in genomics for personalized medicine, but Champions Oncology's TumorGraft technology is unique in a way that it can validate the chemotherapy regimen experimentally generating vast amounts of valuable data. Our bioinformatic analysis showed that molecular signatures of patient tumor grafts in mice are very similar to signatures of cancer in patients before and after treatment. We established this research collaboration to further validate these preliminary findings", said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, CEO of Insilico Medicine, Inc.
Champions TumorGrafts are a personalized approach used to guide physician treatment decisions for cancer patients. A piece of the patient's living tumor is removed during surgery or biopsy and engrafted in immune-deficient mice. After the TumorGraft grows, still closely resembling the patient's tumor, Champions Oncology tests drug treatments in the TumorGraft and measures the response. TumorGraft has demonstrated high rates of predictability using multiple therapies, including single-agent and combination, chemotherapy regimens and targeted biological drugs.
Every TumorGraft is preserved as a living sample for future patient use. These banked TumorGrafts can be re-grown and tested in the event of cancer progression or recurrence. In oncology drug development, TumorGraft models are utilized extensively by pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations to predict the clinical effectiveness of their compounds in targeted patient populations.
"Our preliminary collaboration with Insilico Medicine showed some exciting results that may be of interest to both the academic and industry communities", said KerenPaz, chief Scientific Officer at Champions Oncology.
In the scope of this research collaboration Insilico Medicine will analyze a portion of Champions Oncology gene expression data sets from tumor grafts before and aftertreatment with chemotherapy drugs and compare the signaling pathway activation state (SPAS) changes with the SPAS changes in human patients.
"Champions' Tumorgraft technology stems from many years of breakthrough science generated in the most credible, productive and innovative cancer research laboratories headed by Dr. David Sidransky, who's work we greatly admire. We believe that the TumorGraft technology has broad applications in drug discovery and drug repurposing in aging and age-related diseases that were previously overlooked. This research collaboration may pave the way for a comprehensive drug discovery and development pipeline, where drugs and drug candidates may be selected and prioritized using in silico approaches and tested in human tissues engrafted into Champions Oncology mice or other animal models", said Qingsong Zhu, PhD, Chief Operating Officer, Insilico Medicine, Inc.

About Insilico Medicine
Insilico Medicine is a Baltimore-based company utilizing advances in advances in genomics and big data analysis for in silico drug discovery and drug repurposing for aging and age-related. The company is utilizing the GeroScope™ and OncoFinder™ packages for aging and cancer research. Through internal expertise and extensive collaborations with brilliant scientists, institutions, and highly credible pharmaceutical companies, Insilico Medicine seeks to discover new drugs and drug combinations for personalized preventative medicine. For more information on Insilico Medicine, Inc. please visit http://www.insilicomedicine.com.

About Champions Oncology
Champions Oncology, Inc. is engaged in the development of advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the development and use of oncology drugs. The Company's TumorGraft technology platform is a novel approach to personalizing cancer care based upon the implantation of primary human tumors in immune deficient mice followed by propagation of the resulting engraftments, or TumorGrafts, in a manner that preserves the biological characteristics of the original human tumor in order to determine the efficacy of a treatment regimen. The Company uses this technology in conjunction with related services to offer solutions for two customer groups: Personalized Oncology Solutions, in which results help guide the development of personalized treatment plans, and Translational Oncology Solutions, in which pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seeking personalized approaches to drug development can lower the cost and increase the speed of developing new drugs. TumorGrafts are procured through agreements with a number of institutions in the U.S. and overseas as well as through Champions' Personalized Oncology Solutions business. For more information, please visit http://www.championsoncology.com.

Please contact:
Michael Petr
Market Research Associate
michael.petr@insilicomedicine.com