Within his role as a Scientific Advisory Board member, Professor Lawrence will work with the computational team on leveraging the latest advances in machine learning and generative AI to develop their Mergo® RNA delivery system. 

Sixfold's pioneering approach enables the construction of expansive, high-resolution in vivo datasets, allowing them to surpass conventional methods that rely on proxy assays. By integrating these rich datasets with sophisticated machine learning techniques, the team is able to engineer a versatile and novel delivery vehicle for RNA.

“We are delighted to have Professor Lawrence on our board,” says Sixfold Bioscience Machine Learning Lead, Dave Lines. “Having pioneered several approaches in Gaussian processes and generative modeling, Neil is a globally recognised leader in ML/AI. We have already benefited from his input and guidance and greatly strengthened our platform approach to RNA therapeutic delivery.”

"My interests are in how we can deploy machine learning to solve meaningful real world challenges. I am excited to work with the Sixfold team to derive the most high-value insights from their data and to unlock RNA medicine to treat a variety of diseases," said Prof Lawrence. 

“Sixfold is deploying advanced generative AI and machine learning to bring a data centric approach to designing RNA delivery constructs. If we could deliver RNA medicines to the specific cell types within the body where they are needed, we would be able to make huge strides towards alleviating a diverse range of diseases, including most genetic diseases. We are grateful for Professor Lawrence’s insights into how to best leverage AI to engineer RNA delivery constructs” says Sixfold Bioscience founder and co-CEO Dr Anna Perdrix Rosell.

About Professor Neil Lawrence

Neil Lawrence is the DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge, where he leads the University’s flagship mission on AI, AI@Cam, and has been working on machine learning models for over 20 years. He recently returned to academia after three years as Director of Machine Learning at Amazon and is also a Senior AI Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute and a visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield. He advises and sits on the boards of the GSK, AISTATS foundation, ELLIS, and the Scientific Advisory Council of arXiv. 

Sixfold Biosciences is a biotechnology company solving one of the most critical challenges preventing the greater utilization of powerful RNA medicines: delivery. Sixfold’s solution takes evolution as inspiration, learning and mimicking how RNA is naturally delivered to different cell types in the body. Using advanced AI and Bayesian Optimization, Sixfold is learning the language that encodes RNA-shuttle interactions and destination selection, unlocking new cell types for treatment.