#13 - Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of Insilico Medicine - On using AI to add quality years to human life

My guest on the podcast this week is Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of Insilico Medicine

On a day-to-day basis, Alex is the CEO of Insilico Medicine (www.insilico.com), which is focused exclusively on developing and applying deep learning methods to drug discovery. It’s probably the largest next-gen AI and bioinformatics company in the world, focusing exclusively on aging and age-related diseases.

Alex is also the director of the Biogerontology Research Foundation and the founder of the International Aging Research Portfolio. He heads the laboratory of regenerative medicine at the Center for Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Immunology and is the adjunct professor at the Buck Institute for Research in Aging in Novato, California and the international adjunct professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

As an anti-aging expert, he is convinced that even people past their 70s, who are in good health, should set their longevity expectations to live past 150. It is a realistic goal considering the current longevity records and progress in technology. Stretching longevity expectations may help delay or reverse the psychological aging.

This inspired me to invite Alex to my podcast, to explore how technology can be used to accelerate progress in this field, how it can augment researchers around the world to create breakthroughs that will ultimately increase longevity for all of us.

We discuss the big idea behind his company to extend healthy productive longevity, first by understanding the size of the challenge, from there exploring how technology can help to address the challenge, and if applied the right way, the magnitude of the impact it could create. Here are some quotes:

“Aging is one of the major challenges that humanity is facing today. The population has tripled over the past 70 years, and the population also got older.”

“We need to identify new ways to keep people in their optimal healthy state for as long as possible, just to ensure that the economy remains intact.”

“There is lots and lots of data available for aging research, but AI takes it to the next level. It basically accelerates everything. Think about this as a carriage versus Formula 1.”

“If you are pursuing aging research and you find a way to extend the life of everybody on the planet by one year, you generate seven billion, well, seven‑and‑a‑half billion, quality-adjusted life years. That is really the scale we're talking about."

By listening to this podcast, you will learn the following:

• Why the best innovations start with the end goal in mind.
• How, by clearly defining your Business Model upfront, you can avoid delays and unpleasant surprises.
• Why data privacy is becoming a critical aspect of innovation success.
• And why it’s key to surround yourself with like-minded people who share the same passion, and are not just in it for the money.