iCombine to Helsinki Challenge Final with Personalised Cancer Treatment
19.06.2017
The seven finalists of the Helsinki Challenge competition have been selected. One of the finalists is a database called iCombine which enables personalised cancer treatment and involves researchers from the University of Turku.
Senior Researcher Samu Kurki (left), iCombine's team leader and Senior Researcher Jing Tang (right) and Caroline Heckman (middle) joined the Helsinki Challenge competition with an idea that develops personalised cancer treatment.
Helsinki Challenge, a science-based idea competition, is a platform for Finnish universities' multidisciplinary collaboration for the benefit of the entire world. The themes of the competition, which are people in change, sustainable planet and urban future, are related to the United Nation's sustainable development goals.
An international jury has chosen six teams out of 20 semifinalists to the finals.
Mathematical Model for Personalised Cancer Treatment
Team iCombine is lead by Jing Tang, who leads a research group in the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) at the University of Helsinki and is Senior Researcher at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of Turku. Senior Researcher Samu Kurki from Auria Biobank is one of the researchers of the team.
iCombine is developing a mathematical model that would help doctors find the best possible form of treatment for cancer patients. Every year, more than $100 billion are spent on cancer drugs worldwide, but only 25 percent of the drugs are effective. The problem with contemporary cancer treatment is that patients react to treatments in different ways. Some patients also create resistance to certain drugs. Therefore, the group has developed a model that can use genetic and biomedical data to calculate the likeihood of a certain drug being the best possible choice for each patient.
The jury selects the winner or winners who will be announced in November 2017. The competition prize is €375,000 which is meant for the implementation of the solution. The solution can be, for example, a new scientific field, a commercialisable idea, entrepreneurship or pioneering research.
The Helsinki Challenge competition is organised in collaboration with Finnish universities. The University of Helsinki organises Helsinki Challenge with Aalto University, Hanken School of Economics, the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Jyväskylä, the University of Oulu, Uniarts Helsinki, the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University. Helsinki Challenge is part of the Finland 100 centenary celebration programme.
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Photo: Miikka Pirinen