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Alex Zhavoronkov

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Alex Zhavoronkov
At a WEF meeting in June 2024
Born
Riga, Latvia[1][2]
Alma materQueen's University at Kingston
Johns Hopkins University (JHU)[3]
Known forThe Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy
Scientific career
Fieldsaging, regenerative medicine, drug development, artificial intelligence
InstitutionsInsilico Medicine, Biogerontology Research Foundation

Alex Zhavoronkov (born Aleksandrs Zavoronkovs)[3] is a Latvian-born scientist and author working in biotechnology, regenerative medicine, and aging economics. He is the founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine,[4][5][6] and as of 2024, was also the director of the Biogerontology Research Foundation,[7][8] a UK-based think-tank for aging research. Zhavoronkov has published a substantial number of papers, and books including The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy.[9][10]

Biography

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Early life, education, and career

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Born in Latvia,[1][2][6] Zhavoronkov received two bachelor's degrees from Queen's University,[3] and worked in graphics processing before moving to the biotechnology field.[11] He received a master's degree in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University,[6][11] and a PhD in physics and mathematics from Moscow State University.[3] In the mid 2010s, he was an adjunct professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.[12] As of 2024, he was an adjunct professor of artificial intelligence at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.[13] Zhavoronkov was named as a co-inventor on a patent issued in May 2013 for "systems and methods for communicating with a computer using brain activity patterns".[14][15]

AI and medical research

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In 2014, Zhavoronkov began work towards using "massive data sets and Al to significantly speed up the drug discovery process",[16] and established Insilico at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.[6][11][16][17][18] Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis were early investors in Zhavoronkov's efforts.[16] Robbins wrote of Zhavoronkov that "researchers had been using GANs to do things like design new objects or create one-of-a-kind, fake human faces, but Zhavoronkov wanted to apply them to pharmacology".[16]

In November 2017, Zhavoronkov proposed the application of the deep learning techniques and blockchain technology for managing human life data.[19][20][21]

In 2022, Zhavoronkov participated in a round of financing for Insilico Medicine that raised $60 million for the venture.[22] Zhavoronkov asserted at the time that the industry was "in 'biotechnology winter' where many companies are running out of cash and are dying", and that his fundraising was positioning the company for a coming "biotech spring".[22] AI writer Calum Chace described Zhavoronkov at the time as well-known within the longevity community "for his relentless focus".[1] In February 2023, Wesley J. Smith, writing for National Review, sharply criticized comments by Zhavoronkov, who had observed that organ transplants used to facilitate life extension could someday be provided by using human clones generated without cognitive functions.[23]

In June 2023, Zhavoronkov led Insilico's development of what he described as "the first fully generative AI drug to reach human clinical trials, and specifically Phase II trials with patients".[24]

Other AI and internet activities

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In 2016, Zhavoronkov was the chief science officer for Beauty.AI, an artificial intelligence technology that evaluate people's external appearance through certain algorithms. In this role, he responded to concerns about ethnic bias in results generated by the platform by attributing them to a lack of data provided to it.[25]

In 2022, Zhavoronkov was an author of a paper titled Rapamycin in the context of Pascal's Wager: generative pre-trained transformer perspective, which was described as one of the first peer-reviewed published papers to formally credit ChatGPT as a coauthor.[26] Zhavoronkov reported that when he asked ChatGPT itself whether it should be named as a coauthor, "it responded with multiple compelling reasons as to why it should not".[26]

In May 2024, Zhavoronkov was noted to have funded production of a realistically animated rendition of a head transplant, with the face of the transplant subject being recognized as Zhavoronkov's own. This became a viral video on social media.[27]

Publications

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Since 2010, Zhavoronkov has authored or co-authored over 250 scientific articles published in refereed journals and referenced in PubMed.[28][29]

Books
  • Moskalev, Alexey; Stambler, Ilia; Zhavoronkov, Alex (2023), Artificial Intelligence for Healthy Longevity, Springer, ASIN B0C6CS2XJ3
  • Zhavoronkov, Alex (2013). The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230342200.[10][9][30][31]
  • Zhavoronkov, Alex (2012), Dating A.I.: A guide to falling in love with Artificial Intelligence, RE/Search Publications, ISBN 978-1889307350
Articles

References

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  1. ^ a b c Chace, Calum (9 November 2022). "How Insilico Medicine Uses AI To Accelerate Drug Development". Forbes Magazine.
  2. ^ a b Smyth, Jamie (26 June 2023). "Biotech begins human trials of drug designed by artificial intelligence". Financial Times.
  3. ^ a b c d "Alex Zhavoronkov Aims to Take Over the Drug Development World with AI". Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. 20 June 2023.
  4. ^ Eric Smaley (2017). "AI-powered drug discovery captures pharma interest". Nature Biotechnology. 35 (7): 605. doi:10.1038/nbt0717-604. PMID 28700560. S2CID 205269847.
  5. ^ Tan, Dawn; Baker, Jalelah Abu (4 January 2023). "Big investors pour funds into longevity research, accelerating growth in field". CNA.
  6. ^ a b c d Matsuyama, Kanoko (14 November 2023). "Race for first drug discovered by AI nears key milestone". The Japan Times.
  7. ^ "Biogerontology Research Foundation Salutes Staff On Multi-Year Drug Development Agreement". Bioengineer.org. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  8. ^ Raiany Romanni, "Want to live to 150? The world needs more humans", The Boston Globe (April 2, 2023), p. K1, K5.
  9. ^ a b Scheffler, Daniel (9 July 2013). "The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy (review)". Edge Media. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014.
  10. ^ a b Tom Blackwell, "Cutting-edge science seeks treatment for age", Toronto National Post (February 6, 2021), p. As5.
  11. ^ a b c Brazil, Rachel (7 December 2017). "Artificial Intelligence: will it change the way drugs are discovered?". Pharmaceutical Journal, the Journal of the Royal Pharmacological Society.
  12. ^ "News: Neural network learns to select potential anticancer drugs". MIPT News. 9 February 2017.
  13. ^ "A rather disruptive bunch". Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  14. ^ US patent 8442626B2, Alex Zavoronkov, Mikhail Bakhnyan, "Systems and methods for communicating with a computer using brain activity patterns", issued May 14, 2013 
  15. ^ Bobrov, P; Frolov, A; Cantor, C; Fedulova, I; Bakhnyan, M; Zhavoronkov, A (2011). "Brain-computer interface based on generation of visual images". PLOS ONE. 6 (6): e20674. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...620674B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020674. PMC 3112189. PMID 21695206.
  16. ^ a b c d Robbins, Tony; Diamandis, Peter H.; Hariri, Robert (2022). Life Force. Simon and Schuster. pp. 556–57. ISBN 978-1982121709.
  17. ^ Gantz, Sarah (23 February 2017). "Insilico Medicine raises $10 million". The Baltimore Sun.
  18. ^ Thomas, Uduak Grace (28 March 2014). "GenomeWeb: In Silico Medicine Opens US Office, Prepares to Launch Drug Discovery Software for Aging Research Market" – via www.genomeweb.com.
  19. ^ "Skolkovo scientist says AI and blockchain could accelerate biomedical research". old.sk.ru.
  20. ^ "Bitcoin Tech Lets People Reclaim Their Data, Says Medical Startup". Inverse. 7 December 2017.
  21. ^ Haskins, Caroline (6 December 2017). "This Biotech Company Wants You to Give it Selfies and Blood Tests in Exchange for Cryptocurrency".
  22. ^ a b Liao, Rita (6 June 2022). "Hong Kong's AI drug discovery firm Insilico closes $60M Series D". TechCrunch.
  23. ^ Smith, Wesley J. (8 February 2023). "Harvesting Clones to Live Forever Would Be Monstrous". National Review.
  24. ^ Field, Hayden (29 June 2023). "The first fully A.I.-generated drug enters clinical trials in human patients". CNBC.
  25. ^ Pearson, Jordan (5 September 2016). "Why An AI-Judged Beauty Contest Picked Nearly All White Winners". Motherboard. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  26. ^ a b Berenbaum, May R. (22 November 2023). "Welcome, AI overlords?". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Vol. 120, no. 48. doi:10.1073/pnas.2318980120.
  27. ^ Regalado, Antonio (23 May 2024). "That viral video showing a head transplant is a fake. But it might be real someday". MIT Technology Review.
  28. ^ Google Scholar page of Alex Zhavoronkov, by publication date.
  29. ^ PubMed Bibliography of Alex Zhavoronkov, Pubmed.
  30. ^ "CBS Radio with Dan Raviv in Washington, DC". 9 September 2013. Event occurs at 1:45–5:20.
  31. ^ "Interview with Aging Expert – Alex Zhavoronkov". Book Tour Radio. 20 August 2013.
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