St Jude Children’s Research Hospital shared a post on LinkedIn:
“The Office of Data Science recently hosted the fourth annual St Jude Knowledge in Data Science (KIDS) BioHackathon, bringing together 160 students and professionals in the fields of bioinformatics, imaging, data science, artificial intelligence, and software engineering. Over the span of 72 hours, participants developed software solutions to address challenges in the research community.
‘The BioHackathon is a window to reflect how cutting-edge technologies impact ongoing research at St. Jude.’
‘It’s exciting to see many projects embracing AI to tackle their challenges this year.’
Said Gang Wu, PhD, Center for Applied Bioinformatics director.
The event draws many early-career and multidisciplinary participants eager to collaborate, learn, and expand their skill set. This year’s challenges ranged from a comic book app explaining CAR-T cell therapy for pediatric patients to a chatbot trained on specific standard operating procedures to assist lab personnel and more.
Lead Bioinformatics Research Scientist Ninad Oak, PhD, and his team were awarded ‘Best Overall’ for their creation of an agentic artificial intelligence system that autonomously integrates genomic data to prioritize genetic variants for those related to cancer.
‘The hackathon was an exciting opportunity to bring together a team of tech avengers and apply cutting-edge AI and LLM models to tackle long-standing challenges in pediatric cancer research.’
‘I’m incredibly proud of our team’s creativity and shared commitment to advancing treatments for children.’
Said Oak.
St Jude is building its data science workforce for the future, and the KIDS25 Bio Hackathon demonstrates that dedication in real time. Renato Umeton, Ph.D. (Hiring), vice president for data sciences and chief of artificial intelligence, emphasized how the event’s investment in people will drive the St Jude mission forward for years to come.
‘The success of this event reflects the incredible effort from teams across the institution, from research departments to clinical units to administration and operations, all coming together to create an environment where innovation thrives.’
Said Umeton.”
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