After yesterday’s devastating news of the $25M cut to the Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis research program — a bipartisan initiative that had been supported for 29 years — it’s encouraging to see today’s The New York Times piece featuring David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, Marinka Zitnik, Matthew Might and others talking about how AI is helping crack some of the hardest diseases. Thanks to openly-available tools like those from Marinka and Matt — plus increasingly powerful off-the-shelf AI — anyone can now contribute drug repurposing ideas for patients left with few options. As federal funding grows more uncertain, maybe it’s time to tap into people’s brainpower and diverse perspectives instead of their taxpayer dollars. I’m hopeful for a renaissance of crowd-powered science — where AI-enhanced citizen scientists join experts in generating hypotheses, where solvers connect directly with patients, and solutions found are shared widely and benchmarked transparently for others to build on. It may start with rare diseases, but it won’t stop there. As Robert Allaway once taught me: “Every disease is a rare disease if you take enough context into account.”
Physician-Scientist @ UPenn | National Bestselling Author, Chasing My Cure | Co-Founder @ Every Cure & CDCN
We are thrilled to share that?The New York Times has just featured Every Cure and our work?using repurposed?drugs?to save lives. The article highlights how our AI-driven approach is identifying lifesaving treatments that were hiding in plain sight. It tells the powerful story of?patient?Joseph Coates,?who at 37 years old?was given just weeks to live due to a rare disease—until an AI-predicted treatment,?helped save his life. This recognition is a testament to our mission: ensuring that every FDA-approved drug is fully utilized to treat every disease it possibly can. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to shed light on this critical work and the potential AI holds for revolutionizing medicine. Click the link below to read the full article! https://lnkd.in/e-H8nyCZ #EveryCure #DrugRepurposing #AIforGood #HealthcareInnovation #raredisease #NYTimes