The Aithyra Institute is a research institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the Vienna BioCenter (Austria), with a focus on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and biomedicine.[1]

Description

edit

Funded by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation with 150 million euros for 12 years, the institute is designed to foster collaboration between experts in AI and life sciences. Its goal is to develop innovative research approaches to better understand diseases, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and contribute to the development of new treatments for currently incurable conditions.[2][3][4]

Michael Bronstein, AI researcher, entrepreneur, and DeepMind Professor at the University of Oxford, serves as the founding scientific director.[5][6]

Aityhra's work is based on the principles of early integration of AI in biomedical research, ensuring that AI experts are involved from the start of experiments and data analysis, which differs from traditional practices where AI is applied retrospectively. The institute emphasizes open-access principles, making its research data freely available to scientists worldwide.[7]

The institute is temporarily housed in the Marxbox building at the Vienna BioCenter, while a new building is developed on campus. The name "Aithrya" was generated using AI, reflecting the institute's innovative spirit and a fusion of Greek mythology with modern science.[8]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Aithyra - research institute for biomedical artificial intelligence of the Austrian Academy of Sciences".
  2. ^ "Aithyra Institute incepted".
  3. ^ "Inception announcement by Austrian Academy of Sciences".
  4. ^ "Der Standard on the inception of Aithyra Institute".
  5. ^ "Aityra Institute - official website".
  6. ^ "Portrait of Michael Bronstein on the occasion of the inception of Aithyra (German)". 18 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Aithyra Institute - official website".
  8. ^ "Official announcement of Aithrya: "Institute's name created in collaboration with AI"".