Next-Generation Drug Development: Newly Launched UMSOP MS Program Shows How Artificial Intelligence Can Innovate
One in 10 Americans lives with a rare disease, half of whom are children, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. Of the more than 10,000 known rare diseases, fewer than 5 percent have an approved treatment.
But what if drug developers were better able to sort through the insurmountable amount of data around medications to know what drugs approved for one disease might be usable for other diseases?
“Imagine in drug development: You have [national and] global regulatory agencies that keep putting out documents, regulations, policies, and product labels. Easily … you’re looking at millions of documents,” said Joga Gobburu, PhD, MBA, a professor in the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s (UMSOP) Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research. “Can you, as a drug developer, use AI to ... not only access documents, but be able to pinpoint the answers to questions that you’re looking for?”
UMSOP’s MS in Artificial Intelligence for Drug Development (AIDD) program was born from industry experts like Gobburu who are looking to educate and prepare students with cutting-edge skills in natural language processing and machine learning to accelerate innovation at every stage of drug development.
Learn more about the MS in AIDD program, which welcomed its first cohort of students this past academic year.
Photo: Dr. Joga Gobburu