Aug 25, 2023
#94 Killing Cancer with Machine Learning with Dr. Amit Deshwar
Today I'm joined by Dr. Amit Deshwar. He uses machine learning to discover new drugs to cure various diseases including cancer. He's a scientist who works in the growing field of Computational Biology, and has risen through the ranks at the Canadian biotech company Deep Genomics.
During College, Amit got two internships at Google as a platform engineer. He then decided rather than working in big tech he wanted to go back to school and get his Ph.D. He studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, and had his work published in Nature, one of the most prestigious scientific journals.
I met up with Amit at the Glen Park library in San Francisco, at the exact table where the FBI arrested notorious Slik Road Darknet marketplace founder Ross Ulbricht.
We talk about how scientists and developers use machine learning to speed up drug discovery. I ask him a lot of my totally naive questions about how these therapies work and how they can fight various types of cancer and other diseases.
Photo of Amit arresating me at the Glen Park Library where the FBI arrested Ross Ulbright: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15B8HD4SGErnOd8zA-9gYW2MabAQFG58Q/view?usp=sharing
Photo of me arresting Amit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OWyaVyzqT8YgLFYUVi5kqY9te6ShSdgr/view?usp=sharing
Amit on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=QGCYxysAAAAJ
Amit's Twitter: https://twitter.com/amitdeshwar