EMBL Australia and Bioplatforms Australia invited members of the scientific community to gather at the iconic Shine Dome in Canberra and gain insights into artificial intelligence (AI) and its transformative role in life sciences.
The public event featured talks from international and Australian experts and drew scientists and senior leadership from a range of organisations, including CSIRO, Monash University, UNSW Sydney, the Australian National University, the University of Canberra, the Australian Government Department of Education, NCRIS projects, Snow Medical and Research Australia, as well as postdoctoral researchers and students.
The highlight of the afternoon was a compelling keynote address by Professor Ewan Birney, Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and Deputy Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), who explored the expansive landscape of AI in life sciences.
Prof Birney described how AI is revolutionising genomics, drug discovery and healthcare, propelling ground-breaking innovations that promise to enhance both human and planetary health.
“To understand life in terms of human health and the environment, the potential is mind-blowing,” Prof Birney said.
Prof Birney spoke about the collaborative effort required to harness AI’s full potential and emphasised the need for robust ethical frameworks and effective solutions to navigate the challenges posed by this technology.
“In the future, we will need good questions, which map feasible AI deployments. We will need enough data of the right type, collected in multiple diverse ways. We will need enough GPUs [graphics processing units] to train our models,” he said.
“And we will need good people – to ask those questions, to generate and manage data, and to design AI models.
“I’m positive about the future and excited about the students and postdocs who will be ‘AI natives’ so to say.”
Joining Prof Birney were distinguished speakers from Australia.
Prof Michael Parker (Director of the Bio21 Institute and an EMBL alumnus) reflected on his experience of working at EMBL, the evolution of structural biology in Australia and its intersection with AI.
“I remember walking down the corridors and meeting ambitious young researchers from around the world… They are now globally renowned scientists & lead institutions in Europe and in Australia,” Prof Parker said.
Dr Merran Smith (Chief Executive of the Population Health Research Network) provided insights into the opportunities and challenges AI presents for Australia’s population health research.
“AI is like electricity; it’s incredibly enabling. For example, in drug development, predictive analysis and early intervention, chronic disease management and personalised medicine,” Dr Smith said.
The event was chaired by EMBL Australia Council Chair Ian Smith and Scientific Head James Whisstock, ANU’s John Curtin School of Medical Research Director Elizabeth Gardiner, and CSIRO Research Director for Human Health Erica Kneipp, and followed by a reception to commemorate EMBL’s 50th anniversary.
Top picture: Chairs and speakers outside the Shine Dome. (L-R: Erica Kneipp, James Whisstock, Ewan Birney, Ian Smith, Merran Smith, Elizabeth Gardiner, Michael Parker)