US-based Nigerian researcher, Kayode Raheem, has developed an advanced AI model capable of predicting how cancer cells respond to treatment with remarkable precision.
Raheem, a PhD researcher in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, described his innovation, SpatioMorph-Rx, as “a game-changer in therapeutic precision.”
Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise, he said, “We wanted to understand not just which cells were resistant, but why, and more importantly, where they were located within the tumour.”
The AI platform integrates histological images and single-cell gene expression data to map drug sensitivity at a single-cell resolution.
“We’re essentially giving oncologists a predictive map of resistance,” Raheem explained. “That allows for better targeting of therapies.”
His model uses deep learning and explainable AI techniques to highlight the biomarkers driving resistance.
Raheem is also exploring the discovery of novel treatments from Nigerian plants and has designed a personalised mRNA vaccine for breast cancer using genomic data from Pakistani patients.