Artificial intelligence is accelerating the creation of medical inventions and improving their availability to researchers, medical doctors and patients, says Pekka Ruusuvuori, Associate Professor and Group Leader at InFLAMES. He says that the transformation of life sciences towards computational methods promises, but also demands more from researchers and companies alike. These promises and demands  will be explored at the InFLAMES flagship event Corporate Corner – From data to innovation on 21 November.

“Whatever the sector, there is a lot of data being produced. However, the researchers are not necessarily well versed in analysing data or using it computationally, which is why we need researchers and companies specialising in data,” says Ruusuvuori.

Ruusuvuori has a clear message for the companies: they should make sure to have people who understand data analysis to at least some extent. “It is good to be aware of the current situation and know, what is possible,” Ruusuvuori summarises.

Students in the biotechnology sector also face the challenge of large data sets, as measurements and various experimental set-ups using current methods generate a lot of data.

“When it comes to biology or immunology, of course, knowledge of the subject matter is everythingBoth students and researchers need to understand how to extract information from the measurement results.

 Artificial intelligence reveals the hidden

The flood of information can hide the essential. As an example, Ruusuvuori mentions traditional tissue samples, the images of which it is now possible toextract information that the human eye cannot see.

“The fact is that by using tools and methods to analyse data, it’s possible to achieve things otherwise impossible and unearth some gems that would go undiscovered otherwise”,  says Ruusuvuori.

Ruusuvuori points out that it is not the data analyst who can tell how to find the relevant information in the mass of data. The findings require collaboration and in-depth dialogue with the subject matter expert, which means that both parties must have a sufficient understanding of what the other is doing.

Starting point: strong networks

The theme of the InFLAMES Corporate Corner this time assumes that in order to sprout innovations from data, it is necessary to combine different data sources, advanced AI methods and strong collaborative networks between different disciplines,  Kaisa Hakkila, Project Manager at InFLAMES, explains.

“When universities and companies combine large data and research data sets using AI-based analytics, we will gain new insights. These insights will lead to innovations and solutions for personalised treatments, early diagnosis and prevention of diseases and, above all, new treatments for complex diseases,” she continues.

The confirmed speakers at Corporate Corner are:

• Strategic Project Lead Samu Kurki, Real-World Data Scientist, Bayer
• Director, Digital Medicine Sammeli Liikkanen, Orion Corporation
• Director Johanna Seppänen, Findata
• Special Envoy for Health and Wellbeing Päivi Sillanaukee, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
• Customer Solutions Manager Charlotte Granberg-Haakana, CSC
• Synthetic Data Project Representative Tinja Pitkämäki, University of Turku
• Research Director Laura Elo, University of Turku
• Associate Professor Pekka Ruusuvuori, University of Turku