Accelerating RNA-targeted small-molecule drug discovery with AI

Title:

Accelerating RNA-targeted small-molecule drug discovery with AI

Schedule:

Date: 24^th April, 2024 (Wednesday)

Time: 9:30 - 10:20 am (HKT)

Venue: Lecture Theatre P4, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building

Speaker:

Dr. Yang Liu

Vice President of Computation

ReviR Therapeutics

Biography:

Dr. Yang Liu, Associate Researcher and Vice President of Computation at ReviR Therapeutics. Dr. Liu completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and Technology at Tsinghua University and PhD in Informatics (Computational Biology) at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. He has more than 10 years of R&D and management experience in the field of genetic research and analysis. His main research areas are human genetics, single-cell genomics, and the application of AI in drug discovery. Dr. Liu has published more than 10 articles in Cell, Nature Medicine, and other journals. He has presided over and participated in many National and Shenzhen projects, and is a high-level talent in Shenzhen. He is also co-founder of Aegicare, a company which utilizes NGS and AI for neurological rare disease diagnosis.

Abstract:

With the advances in the understanding of RNA structure, function, and diverse RNA moieties, developing approaches to therapeutically target RNA with small molecules are being actively pursued. Small-molecule drugs, in contrast to other RNA-targeting modalities such as ASO and RNAi, are favored for their better oral bioavailability and other drug-like characteristics. Nevertheless, selecting the right target and optimizing the selectivity, and safety of these RNA-targeting small molecules are challenging. With the rapid expansion of multi-omics biological data, machine learning, particularly deep learning has become a prevalent tool in drug discovery and development. This talk will delve into the fundamental concepts of machine learning, and demonstrate how artificial intelligence accelerates the process of RNA-targeting drug discovery.

- The seminar is primarily designed for students enrolled in CHEM4145/6113; however, we extend a warm invitation to all interested attendee -