Alex Zhavoronkov Explained

Alex Zhavoronkov
Birth Place:Riga, Latvia[1] [2]
Field:aging, regenerative medicine, drug development, artificial intelligence
Work Institutions:Insilico Medicine, Biogerontology Research Foundation
Alma Mater:Queen's University at Kingston
Johns Hopkins University (JHU)[3]
Known For:The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy

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

Early life, education, and career

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], 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]

AI and medical research

In 2014, Zhavoronkov began work towards using "massive data sets and Al to significantly speed up the drug discovery process",[15] and established Insilico at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.[6] [11] [15] [16] [17] Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis were early investors in Zhavoronkov's efforts.[15] 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".[15]

In November 2017, Zhavoronkov proposed the application of the deep learning techniques and blockchain technology for managing human life data.[18] [19] [20]

In 2022, Zhavoronkov participated in a round of financing for Insilico Medicine that raised $60 million for the venture.[21] 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".[21] 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.[22]

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".[23]

Other AI and internet activities

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.[24]

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.[25] 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".[25]

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.[26]

Publications

Since 2010, Zhavoronkov has authored or co-authored over 250 scientific articles published in refereed journals and referenced in PubMed.[27] [28]

Books
Articles

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: How Insilico Medicine Uses AI To Accelerate Drug Development. Calum. Chace. Calum Chace. Forbes Magazine. November 9, 2022.
  2. News: Biotech begins human trials of drug designed by artificial intelligence. Jamie. Smyth. Financial Times. June 26, 2023.
  3. News: Alex Zhavoronkov Aims to Take Over the Drug Development World with AI. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. June 20, 2023.
  4. 28700560. 2017. Eric Smaley. AI-powered drug discovery captures pharma interest. Nature Biotechnology. 35. 7. 605. 10.1038/nbt0717-604. 205269847.
  5. Web site: Big investors pour funds into longevity research, accelerating growth in field. Dawn. Tan. Jalelah Abu. Baker. CNA. January 4, 2023.
  6. News: Race for first drug discovered by AI nears key milestone . Kanoko. Matsuyama. The Japan Times. November 14, 2023.
  7. Web site: Biogerontology Research Foundation Salutes Staff On Multi-Year Drug Development Agreement. Bioengineer.org. August 14, 2017. 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. News: The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy (review) . https://web.archive.org/web/20140903043248/http://www.edgeonthenet.com/entertainment/books/non-fiction/146143/the_ageless_generation:_how_advances_in_biomedicine_will_transform_the_global_economy . Edge Media. Daniel . Scheffler . July 9, 2013. September 3, 2014.
  10. Tom Blackwell, "Cutting-edge science seeks treatment for age", Toronto National Post (February 6, 2021), p. As5.
  11. Artificial Intelligence: will it change the way drugs are discovered?. Pharmaceutical Journal, the Journal of the Royal Pharmacological Society. Rachel. Brazil. 7 December 2017.
  12. Web site: News: Neural network learns to select potential anticancer drugs. MIPT News. February 9, 2017.
  13. Web site: A rather disruptive bunch. Buck Institute for Research on Aging. June 23, 2024.
  14. 21695206 . 3112189 . 2011 . Bobrov . P . Brain-computer interface based on generation of visual images . PLOS ONE . 6 . 6 . e20674 . Frolov . A . Cantor . C . Fedulova . I . Bakhnyan . M . Zhavoronkov . A . 10.1371/journal.pone.0020674 . 2011PLoSO...620674B . free.
  15. Book: Life Force. Tony. Robbins. Tony Robbins. Peter H.. Diamandis. Peter Diamandis. Robert. Hariri. 2022. 556–57. Simon and Schuster . 978-1982121709.
  16. News: Insilico Medicine raises $10 million. Sarah. Gantz. The Baltimore Sun. February 23, 2017.
  17. Web site: GenomeWeb: In Silico Medicine Opens US Office, Prepares to Launch Drug Discovery Software for Aging Research Market. Uduak Grace. Thomas. March 28, 2014. www.genomeweb.com . subscription.
  18. Web site: Skolkovo scientist says AI and blockchain could accelerate biomedical research. old.sk.ru.
  19. Web site: Bitcoin Tech Lets People Reclaim Their Data, Says Medical Startup. December 7, 2017. Inverse.
  20. Web site: This Biotech Company Wants You to Give it Selfies and Blood Tests in Exchange for Cryptocurrency. Caroline. Haskins. December 6, 2017.
  21. News: Hong Kong's AI drug discovery firm Insilico closes $60M Series D. TechCrunch. Rita. Liao. June 6, 2022.
  22. Web site: Harvesting Clones to Live Forever Would Be Monstrous. Wesley J.. Smith. Wesley J. Smith. National Review. February 8, 2023.
  23. News: The first fully A.I.-generated drug enters clinical trials in human patients. Hayden. Field. June 29, 2023. CNBC.
  24. Web site: Why An AI-Judged Beauty Contest Picked Nearly All White Winners . Motherboard . Pearson . Jordan . 2016-09-05 . 2017-01-17.
  25. News: Welcome, AI overlords?. May R.. Berenbaum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). November 22, 2023. 120 . 48 . 10.1073/pnas.2318980120 .
  26. News: That viral video showing a head transplant is a fake. But it might be real someday. Antonio. Regalado. MIT Technology Review. May 23, 2024.
  27. https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=8Icccp0AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate Google Scholar page of Alex Zhavoronkov, by publication date
  28. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=zhavoronkov%2Ba PubMed Bibliography of Alex Zhavoronkov
  29. Web site: CBS Radio with Dan Raviv in Washington, DC. September 9, 2013. 1:45–5:20.
  30. Web site: Interview with Aging Expert – Alex Zhavoronkov. August 20, 2013. Book Tour Radio.

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