Partnership to apply AI to Drug Discovery

A new collaboration between the University of Oxford and King Abdulaziz University (KAU) will create a new Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Precision Medicine, bringing together experts aiming to find new treatments for both common diseases and rare genetic conditions. The leadership team at Oxford, will be overseen by the Centre for Medicines Discovery (CMD) in the Nuffield Department of Medicine.

The first programme of research will be on AI-guided drug discovery for rare and cardio-metabolic diseases. Education will also be a key component of the partnership, including welcoming students from Saudi Arabia.

”The University of Oxford has been a global institution since we welcomed our first international students in the 12th century,” said Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. “Throughout our long history we have forged valuable partnerships with peers around the world so that together we could push at the frontiers of knowledge and identify solutions to shared problems. It is in that spirit that we join KAU to advance healthcare and drug discovery in the new Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Precision Medicine.”

“We are thrilled to launch the KAU-Oxford innovation centre as part of a cooperation that has been going on for years between both universities. It is a truly leading international research centre. This centre is part of KAU’s strategic plans to be a university at the forefront of academic excellence and innovation worldwide,” said HE Professor Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Youbi, President of King Abdulaziz University. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has prioritised digital technologies and AI tools for creating and planning for the future as part of the Saudi Vision 2030; the Centre will focus on key diseases with national priority areas for research and development to build ingenious start-ups and companies for a knowledge-based economy.”