The First Cheminformatics Bootcamp of Armenia Came to an End

The Ayb Educational Foundation, Denovo Sciences, and Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), with the support of Solaron, concluded the jointly initiated bootcamp. At the closing event, which took place at FAST, the participants presented their project works. Their task was to find candidates for new drugs against cancer, using machine learning algorithms and cheminformatics tools. After discussing their solutions with the professionals and attendees, the young specialists received their certificates and took the first step in the field of cheminformatics essential to modern medicine.

During the event, Mher Matevosyan, the co-founder of Denovo Sciences, addressed the participants. He was delighted to see the persistent work of young specialists in a field new to them, and their desire to complete their work and learn more things.

Tatevik Adamyan, head of the Ayb Educational Foundation’s Contests Department, extended her gratitude to the participants for going through this months-long path and not exhausting their love for science, - “I hope that thanks to the combination of such knowledge and new technologies, innovations in the field of science will be continuous and will record new outcomes.”

Suzanna Mamyan, one of the participants of the bootcamp, talking about her experience in the project, mentioned, - “The interest in the fields connecting chemistry to the technological world brought me here. The bootcamp allowed me to learn about that field- cheminformatics. One of the great things about the bootcamp was the opportunity of studying while working. In this regard, the courses had a guiding role, enabling us to get the general picture. I plan to continue my work in the field of cheminformatics. That can be my path of being helpful to the public. That is the basis of happiness of any social being.”

During the bootcamp, which launched in September, the participants studied the following subjects: programming, data science, and pharmaceutical chemistry. In the last month, the implementation of the program through the project work enabled the participants to use an interesting model of outcome-based education and take the path from research to the creation of their own model of medicine.

With this initiative, the Ayb Educational Foundation, Denovo Sciences, and FAST aimed to make the students and researchers familiar with the fundamentals and tools of cheminformatics through lectures and practical work, drawing the attention of a larger number of specialists to the development of the field and its involvement in the programs of HEIs.