University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn and the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are using funding from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to establish a joint research infrastructure. The aim is to use AI to design and optimize potential cancer therapeutics and subsequently test them in the laboratory. Minister-President Hendrik Wüst and Minister of Science Ina Brandes presented the funding commitment today at the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Bonn site is part of the new AI4CancerCure.NRW research network, for which the state is providing a total of €200 million from the North Rhine-Westphalia Plan for Good Infrastructure. The network brings together the strengths of all seven university medical centers in North Rhine-Westphalia (Aachen, Bochum, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne and Münster), as well as TU Dortmund University. Together, they aim to apply AI across the entire research pipeline – from improving our understanding of cancer biology and developing new drugs to prevention, early detection and clinical application.
Minister-President Hendrik Wüst: “North Rhine-Westphalia is a hotspot for AI-powered cancer research. Through cutting-edge research and innovative therapies from our state, more and more people can be cured. With the North Rhine-Westphalia Plan for Good Infrastructure, we are also laying the foundation for further expanding innovation and future technologies. More than two billion euros will go directly to universities, university medicine and research, enabling even more efficient work on solutions for the future. With AI4CancerCure.NRW, we are creating a major state-wide excellence network for cancer medicine and bringing cancer research even closer together with cutting-edge AI research. Step by step, we are moving closer to our goal of defeating cancer as a widespread disease.”
Minister of Science Ina Brandes: “We are consistently investing the funds from the North Rhine-Westphalia Plan for Good Infrastructure in the major challenges of the future. The fight against cancer is one of the most pressing concerns, as a cancer diagnosis changes the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in North Rhine-Westphalia every year. With AI4CancerCure.NRW, we are creating a secure data space and systematically connecting cancer biology, data-driven drug design, image- and data-based diagnostics, and the rapid development of medical devices through the use of AI. This will provide tangible benefits for patients. Cancer can be detected earlier, precise predictions of disease progression can become possible, and personalized therapies can have significantly fewer side effects. Patients will also be permanently and structurally involved in research. Successful cancer research can only be achieved together with those affected. I am proud and grateful that AI4CancerCure.NRW will bring us a major step closer to curing cancer.”
From Digital Ideas to Therapeutics in the Laboratory
The focus of the Bonn site within the network is on the AI-supported design and experimental testing of new drug candidates. To achieve this, UKB, the University of Bonn and the Lamarr Institute are pooling their expertise in cancer biology, immunology, structural biology and artificial intelligence.
“The €25 million in funding is a strong signal for Bonn as a research hub. Together with the Lamarr Institute, we are creating an infrastructure that combines our excellent cancer research with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence methods. This will not only strengthen research at UKB, but also make an important contribution to the state-wide network and the development of new treatment approaches,” says Prof. Dr. Uwe Reuter, Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director of UKB.
The scientists in Bonn aim to use AI to design new antibodies, mini-proteins, peptides and small molecules, among other things. These potential therapeutics are intended to specifically target structures on cancer cells and thereby provide potential starting points for new therapies.
“With artificial intelligence, we can now design new drugs on a computer. In Bonn, we then produce these candidates, test their properties in the laboratory and use the results to specifically further develop the next generation of drug candidates. This creates a direct cycle of AI design, experimentation and optimization – and this connection is a particular strength of our approach,” says Prof. Dr. Michael Hölzel, Director of the Institute of Experimental Oncology at UKB and member of the Excellence Cluster ImmunoSensation³ at the University of Bonn.
New Computing and Laboratory Infrastructure for Bonn
The €25 million in funding for the Bonn site will be used both to expand AI infrastructure and to establish state-of-the-art laboratory technology. Plans include high-performance GPU servers for developing complex AI models, as well as technologies for the automated production and experimental testing of new drug candidates.
The Lamarr Institute will contribute its particular expertise in machine learning and computer-aided drug design. “The close collaboration between the University Hospital and the Lamarr Institute uniquely combines expertise in oncology, structural biology and artificial intelligence. This creates ideal conditions for new interdisciplinary approaches to cancer research,” says Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bajorath, Area Chair of Life Sciences and Health at the Lamarr Institute and member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Modelling” at the University of Bonn.
The new infrastructure will enable Bonn researchers to take up promising therapeutic targets identified within the NRW-wide network, develop potential drugs against them and investigate these candidates experimentally. The results will then feed back into the collaborative research conducted within AI4CancerCure.NRW.
“In recent years, we have strategically built up collaboration between medicine and the Lamarr Institute. This has enabled us to establish the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bonn as a unique location for using artificial intelligence to address medical challenges and to accelerate the translation of innovations to patients,” says Dean Prof. Dr. Bernd Weber.
This creates an important interface between artificial intelligence and experimental cancer research in Bonn. Promising drug candidates will be gradually prepared for further preclinical and, in the longer term, clinical research.
At the Bonn site, the funding will be used to establish a new center for “AI-Designed Therapeutics and Diagnostics”, which will be led by Prof. Michael Hölzel and Prof. Jürgen Bajorath and will serve as an example of the close collaboration between UKB, the University of Bonn and the Lamarr Institute.
The Center for Integrated Oncology (CIO Bonn) is the interdisciplinary cancer center of University Hospital Bonn and Johanniter Hospital Bonn. Under its umbrella, all UKB clinics and institutes involved in the diagnosis, treatment and research of oncological diseases work together. CIO Bonn is part of the nationwide network of selected Comprehensive Cancer Centers supported by the German Cancer Aid. Together, the network “Center for Integrated Oncology – CIO Aachen Bonn Cologne Düsseldorf” shapes cancer medicine for around 11 million people.
Press Contact
Jana Schäfer
Deputy Press Officer at University Hospital Bonn (UKB)
Public Relations and Corporate Communication Office
Phone: (+49) 228 287-19891
Email: jana.schaefer2@ukbonn.de
Scientific contact:
Prof. Dr. med. Michael Hölzel
Director of the institute of Experimental Oncology
University Hospital Bonn
E-Mail: Michael.Hoelzel@ukbonn.de
