Зустріч BC + AI Life Sciences #3

We begin at the dinner table.Life Sciences Gathering #2: - Perspective: What has AI done for me? Artificial Intelligence in my life sciences research - past, present, and future. - Debate: Does AI help or hinder frontline doctors? - Program: update on the goals of the life sciences group in AI.Last month, Simon Haworth and Kris Krüg brought together a small group - drug discovery researchers, health analytics leaders, clinicians, interoperability architects, data-for-good investors, and practitioners - for a dinner without presentations and pitches at Simon's house.Participants included people from Genome BC, Providence Healthcare Ventures, a frontline physician, data regulators, AI technology experts, entrepreneurs, consultants, life sciences researchers, and... Simon with his drug discovery hat in biotechnology and AI. What transpired was what usually happens when you put genuinely different perspectives in life sciences in the same room with good food and honest structure: the conversation went to places that a conference panel never would.We discussed where AI is really working in life sciences (drug discovery has advanced rapidly - a third of new drug development now involves AI) and where we are still in the early stages (the frontier of biology is tougher than that of chemistry, suggesting wins, and health on the frontline doesn’t quite know how to handle AI - although patients seem to have a pretty good idea).We talked about why the fragmentation of health data in Canada is a governance problem as much as a technology problem. About patient records: an invaluable resource for solving human diseases or an institutional intellectual property win that patients don’t want to share? About why some clinicians immediately see AI as an enabling workflow tool, while others experience it as noise - or irrelevant - and what changes that.We all understood: AI matters in health. For the second consecutive year, participants at WebSummit Vancouver rated health as the market segment offering the biggest benefits from the application of AI, but... there still wasn’t a life sciences track and the global pharmaceutical industry hadn’t even shown up. It seems there is still more to be done. So, let’s move forward and do it.The gathering #1 was a good night. Even Simon’s terrible poetry didn’t discourage us from doing this again.June 2: the circle widens.This is Gathering #2. Even cross DNA, concrete, community-focused. With a slightly wider table.If you work anywhere in the life sciences and AI space in BC: biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, clinical research, health informatics, medical devices, health policy, patient advocacy, venture capital, or academia - this is your gathering.We will not be presenting products or doing a hackathon. We will be talking about what BC can do in the two stages that matter to us: global and local. The life sciences gathering is for those who want to take action and those who want to make new connections (and then do something useful with those new relationships).What to expect6:00 PM: Doors open, informal mingling, a bit of wine.6:30 PM: Brief introduction by Simon and Kris: where we are, where this series is headed.6:45 PM: Dinner is served!6:45 PM: Frontline perspective: what AI means to me in life sciences. [Speaker details are being confirmed - basically, we want to give each Founding Member a chance to share their experience, with one Founder taking center stage at each event].7:15 PM: Debate: "AI has little real value for doctors or surgeons. And for patients, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Discuss.7:45 PM: Program and progress: Refining and implementing the goals of the Life Sciences Gathering. Global and local. Participate.8:30 PM: Closing of activities. Conversations continue as long as the wine lasts.No pitch sessions. No lack of opinions. New connections you never thought of. Casserole. Nuts. Perhaps a little creativity. Bring your honest perspective on what is really happening in your segment of the field.Who is this forYou work at the intersection of AI and life sciences in BC (or wish to) and would like to contribute by taking your seat at the table, literally and metaphorically;You have a burning ambition in life sciences - global or local - and wish for AI to help realize it;You want serendipity to play its role, revealing new and unexpected connections in the sector;You are willing to say what is really hard, not just what is exciting.About the seriesThe BC + AI Life Sciences community is a special interest group within the BC + AI ecosystem, co-led by Simon Haworth (CEO, Intellomx; entrepreneur and investor BC-UK-PRC-US) and Kris Krüg (BC + AI). The dinner series is heading towards a full Life Sciences track at the BC + AI Festival Week this October - but we are growing community the right way: one table at a time.BC + AI is BC's independent AI ecosystem, focused on the ethical and responsible adoption of AI across all sectors. No hype, no activism - just the work.