Machine Learning for Genomics Explorations (MLGenX)

The critical bottleneck in drug discovery is still our limited understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying diseases. Consequently, often we do not know why patients develop specific diseases, and many drug candidates fail in clinical trials. Recent advancements in new genomics platforms and the development of diverse omics datasets have ignited a growing interest in the study of this field. In addition, machine learning plays a pivotal role in improving success rates in language processing, image analysis, and molecular design. The boundaries between these two domains are becoming increasingly blurred, particularly with the emergence of modern foundation models that stand at the intersection of data-driven approaches, self-supervised techniques, and genomic explorations. This workshop aims to elucidate the intricate relationship between genomics, target identification, and fundamental machine learning methods. By strengthening the connection between machine learning and target identification via genomics, new possibilities for interdisciplinary research in these areas will emerge.