"Virchow 2.0" is among the 15 finalists in the final round of the BMBF's Future Cluster Initiative (Clusters4Future). The Berlin-based network, coordinated by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), aims to create a biomedical AI ecosystem to bring cell-based medicine into the clinic. Researchers from ZIB will support the initiative with their expertiese in machine learning and mathematical modelling.
Experts from systems biology, medicine, biotechnology, physics and computer science/artificial intelligence want to create a biomedical AI ecosystem together with local and national industry partners in order to bring cell-based medicine into the clinic. At the same time, the goal is to create a supportive spin-off climate and a support platform for already established companies. The initiative is already supported by 15 companies from the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, AI startups and investors. Core partners for the planned future cluster are the MDC, the Charité, the Berlin Institute of Health at the Charité (BIH), the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB) and the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD), a Berlin research network that develops applications for Big Data and machine learning.
"Recent examples of machine learning and artificial intelligence show that these novel approaches can make a significant contribution to medicine," says PD Dr. Tim Conrad (ZIB) and project leader at BIFOLD. "With the development of specialized algorithms and the necessary mathematical analysis, we will ensure that the resulting methods and results become comprehensible and interpretable."
The "Clusters4Future" competition
Under the framework of the High-Tech Strategy 2025, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) aims to strengthen knowledge and technology transfer with the open-topic "Clusters4Future" competition. Participants from universities, research institutes, companies and social institutions in a region are to work together in an effective manner. The German government plans to provide a total of up to 450 million euros for future clusters over the next ten years.
For the second round of the competition, an independent expert jury has recommended the best 15 of the 117 submitted proposals for a conceptual phase. The only finalist from Berlin: "Virchow 2.0 - Creation of an innovation cluster for the implementation of cell-based medicine in Berlin".
Find more: https://www.mdc-berlin.de/de/news/press/virchow-clusters4future
