The Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (SCBE) and GSK.ai announce two to three post-doctoral fellowship positions focused on exploring the ethical considerations associated with using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to discover transformational medicines and to deliver improved clinical outcomes. The postdoctoral fellows will conduct independent research on ethical, legal and social considerations arising from the use of AI in the pharmaceutical industry, from early-stage drug discovery efforts to downstream clinical applications. The post-doctoral fellowship positions are available as part of the Stanford Training Program in Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) Research and at the Center for Integration of Research on Genetics and Ethics (CIRGE). Candidates from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
About GSK.ai
GSK.ai is a global network of researchers centered around AI hubs in London and San Francisco — where experts from various quantitative fields consider problems from different perspectives. The team consists of a diverse mix of scientists, software engineers, clinicians, and ML researchers, who carry out their own research, develop ML algorithms and AI products, and collaborate with an interdisciplinary team of experts from top machine-learning researchers at Cambridge and Oxford to Silicon Valley software engineers. It is this approach to technology that sets GSK apart, says Dr Hal Barron, a medical doctor, formerly at biotech pioneer Genentech and now chief scientific officer and president of R&D at GSK. “It’s genetics, functional genomics and the interpretation of the data they generate with machine learning that forms the core of our strategy. What machine learning has been able to do—particularly over the past two or three years—is deconstruct these massive data sets and elucidate the relationships that the various genes have with each other.” Machine learning could help with drug discovery in countless ways. Among them are adaptive clinical trials in which machine learning assists in the identification, approval and distribution of treatments and vaccines. It could also help develop individualized treatments, nudging the pharma industry away from a “one drug for everyone” approach and towards treatment based on an understanding of which drugs will work for whom.
About the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics
Established in 1989, the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (SCBE) is an interdisciplinary hub for faculty who do research, teaching, and service on topics in bioethics and medical humanities. SCBE and its faculty have been widely recognized for leadership on a range of issues, such new approaches to studying the ethical issues presented by new technologies in biomedicine, including Artificial Intelligence, CRISPR and Gene Therapy, Stem Cell Research, Synthetic Biology, and the Human Brain Initiative. SCBE was among the first in the field to be designated by NIH as a Center for Excellence in Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (ELSI) in Genetics and Genomics. And SCBE is now the Coordinating Center for ELSI research at the National Human Genome Research Institute. SCBE faculty teach throughout Stanford, from large undergraduate courses to ethics courses taken by all medical students. SCBE offers training for medical students who choose to specialize in biomedical ethics and medical humanities, as well a highly-rated research ethics seminar taken by over 350 graduate students and fellows a year.
