Guest lecture by Sanne Abeln | AI to discover and define (fluid based) biomarkers

On 23 April 2024 Prof Sanne Abeln PhD (AI Technology for Life, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University) will give a guest lecture at Sanquin Amsterdam

Title: AI to discover and define (fluid based) biomarkers

Host: Mart Janssen

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Abstract
Recent advances in machine learning have opened new paths for making predictions based on large sets of complex life science data. I will show how these can be used to unravel novel biological mechanisms as well as how AI can help to discover (fluid based) biomarkers.
Firstly, I will demonstrate how to analyse the impact of a genomic alteration using system level response data. We employed machine learning methodology to explore the problem and subsequently developed a statistical approach to analyse the impact of genomic alterations using as few as 20 samples. Applying this approach, we identified several novel structural variants that are likely to have a significant impact on the development of colorectal cancer.
In a second example, I will demonstrate that it is possible to predict which proteins are likely to be found in extracellular vesicles (EVs). By using meaningful input features, we can gain an understanding of both the vesicle-sorting mechanism, as well as understanding why specific proteins are likely to be found in vesicles. In addition, we can shed light on which experimental EV extraction protocols are most reliable.

Biography
Sanne Abeln studied mathematics and computer science in Manchester, obtained a PhD in bioinformatics from Oxford, and a postdoc in biophysics at AMOLF after which she has done bioinformatics research at the VU for 15 years. In 2023 she was appointed as professor of AI Technology for Life at Utrecht University.