It may seem like cells don’t move, but cell movement is crucial in health and disease. Biological processes such as immunity and cancer growth are controlled by cell movements. Microscopes allow scientists to film that movement. But these films are difficult to analyse. That is why, in this project, Inge Wortel is developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help with this.
This new AI will enable cell films to be translated faster and better into new knowledge about our immune system. This is not as easy as it sounds, she explains. ‘AI can be very powerful, but it can also easily make entirely wrong predictions. So, we cannot simply trust the outcomes, especially if we are using AI to learn something totally new.’
Therefore, in this new project, Wortel is combining AI with computer simulations of cell movement. This allows researchers to develop AI faster and, above all, to test it very thoroughly – even for new research for which little data are available yet. This will accelerate new discoveries in key areas such as immunology and cancer research.
About Inge Wortel
Inge Wortel studied molecular life sciences and chemistry at Radboud University. After completing a Master’s programme in Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, she began her PhD research in the Department of Tumor Immunology at the Radboud university medical center, where she worked on computer simulations of cell movement. Since obtaining her PhD in 2021, she has been working in the Data Science Department on reliable ways to gain knowledge from data in biological research.
About the AiNed Fellowship Grants
The AiNed Fellowship is part of the AiNed Programme set up by stakeholders, partners and participants from the AI network and ecosystem of the Dutch AI Coalition. The aim of the programme is to secure and maintain an internationally competitive position for the Netherlands in the field of AI. The National Growth Fund has allocated a generous budget to the programme.