Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India:
With an objective to train the young scientists of India as a mandate of I-DAPT Hub foundation, IIT(BHU), a week-long hands-on workshop focused on applications of AI in Drug Discovery started on Thursday (March 9) at the institute.
Around fifty participants from all over the country will be trained during this workshop till 13th March, 2023. During the inauguration, Prof. Vikash Kumar Dubey, Project Director, I-DAPT Hub foundation and Dean (Research & Development) insisted that it is high time for the researchers to adapt to this emerging field. Officiating Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Prof. K Sairam briefed on the drug discovery process and the importance of artificial intelligence. Organizing Secretary Dr. Rajnish Kumar emphasized that it is not the AI but the workforce who will use AI will replace the people who will not use AI in near future in almost all the job fields.
On the first day of the workshop an expert lecture was delivered by Prof. Andreas Bender, University of Cambridge, UK through online mode. After that Prof. Shandar Ahmed, School of Computational and Integrative Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi delivered his talk on the role of data and how the data can be the game changer in solving biological questions and drug discovery problems. On Friday, Dr. Ho Leung Ng, founder of Rise Bio at the Silicon Valley, USA shared his state-of-the art research in the field of generative AI. His company is harnessing the power of AI in discovering novel lead molecules for a variety of diseases.
In coming days, the participants will get benefited from the talks of other AI experts from TCS Research, Hyderabad, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States and in-house experts to reskill themselves in this emerging field. Moreover, the participants will also be trained using hands-on-sessions in several AI assisted computational tools which are highly used in drug discovery such as molecular docking and ML assisted scoring, Deep Generative modeling for de novo drug Design, AI/ML based virtual screening, and biomolecular simulations.
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The participants will also get a chance to use the PARAM SHIVAY supercomputing facility which is the first super computer developed and installed under this mission (launched in 2015 as part of Make in India initiative) in India by MeitY. During these hands-on sessions, attendees will be able to put into practice the skills they will learn during the workshop. In addition, the participants will also get an opportunity to network with the peers as well as the experts.
Overall, the first few days of the workshop were a resounding success, providing attendees with valuable insights and practical tools for improving their skills in using AI for doing research and achieving their goals. Organizing Secretary, Dr. Rajnish Kumar and Co-Organizing Secretary, Dr. Vinod Tiwari thanked the Director of the Institute and Chairman Board of A (BoD), I-DAPT Hub foundation, Prof. Pramod Kumar Jain for providing financial support to organize this workshop for training the young minds of the nation.
IIT-BHU Press release
