A computational biologist at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has received a $50,000 cash award in the first phase of a global competition among experts looking for solutions to the coming challenges of an aging global population.
A research proposal by Hong Qin, a UTC professor of computer science, has been selected to advance to the second of three rounds of review in the U.S. National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge. Qin proposed the use of artificial intelligence in searching for a common mechanism in the so-called “biological clock” responsible for how humans age.
Qin will begin testing his proposal toward documenting results in preparation for his round 2 entry in 2023. It’s the latest work in what Qin said is almost 18 years of studying aging.
“This is an ambitious project,” Qin said in a statement Monday regarding his research titled “Uncovering molecular mechanisms of aging clocks with interpretable deep learning.”