Interpreting biological data: Mohammad Lotfollahi wins Early Excellence in Science Award 2022
Every year, the Bayer Foundation awards the Early Excellence in Science Award. This year’s winner in the category “Data Science in the Life Sciences” is Helmholtz Munich researcher Mohammad Lotfollahi from the Institute of Computational Biology. With the award, the Bayer Foundation honors talented young scientists from all over the world for pioneering research achievements. The prize is endowed with 10,000 €.
Helmholtz Munich data scientist Mohammad Lotfollahi wins the Early Excellence in Science Award 2022 for the innovative development of machine learning algorithms in the context of computational biology. His work advances the understanding of large-scale single-cell omics data in health and disease.
In his work, Lotfollahi designs computational models that can e.g. predict the response of drugs that have not yet been tested in human trials. The researcher can hereby simulate the effects of different medications to see their effects, risks, and side effects. And all without injections in patients. The insights will ultimately facilitate the advancement of precision medicine and AI-assisted drug discovery.
Launched in 2009, the annual Early Excellence in Science Award identifies the rising stars of science across the globe in four disciplines: Biology, Chemistry, Medical Science, and Data Science in Life Sciences. With the award, Bayer showcases the inspiring work of game-changing early-career scientists. Eligible are early career scientists with a proven record of excellence and having completed their PhD or MD no more than five years ago.
About the scientist:
Dr. Mohammad Lotfollahi, Helmholtz Munich Institute of Computational Biology
More information:
Video introduction to the 2022 awardees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbD70ezT2t4