ARC Innovation at Sheba Medical Center and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (part of the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City) announced a landmark three-year collaboration with NVIDIA to harness the power of artificial intelligence for genomic discovery through the application of large language model (LLM) technology.
The initiative aims to pioneer the decoding of the majority of the human genome that remains poorly understood in order to unlock new pathways for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Over the three-year period, the project will be supported by significant investment from the participating organizations, with the goal of accelerating research that can ultimately benefit patients worldwide.
The collaboration brings together three global leaders across health care, technology, and research: Sheba and Icahn School of Medicine will contribute extensive genomic datasets, AI research capabilities, and clinical insight, while NVIDIA will provide its advanced computational architecture and AI development platforms, software, and scientific expertise. Together, the institutions will create an AI-driven genomic research engine capable of identifying patterns and regulatory mechanisms that link genetic variation to disease risk and therapeutic response.
“While approximately two percent of the human genome has been thoroughly characterized, the remaining 98 percent, which was once labeled junk DNA, is increasingly recognized as containing critical regulatory and functional elements,” said Prof. Gidi Rechavi, MD, PhD, Israel Prize laureate, Head of the Sheba Cancer Research Center and the Wohl Institute of Translational Medicine, and initiator of the project. “Moreover, when individual genomes are sequenced, significant differences are observed. The genomic LLM approach at the heart of this pivotal collaboration aims to decipher the basic function of human genomic sequences and to enable the use of their variability as a key to diagnosis and future therapy.”
“This collaboration is an important step toward a future where every person can benefit from the power of whole genome sequencing,” said Alexander Charney, MD, PhD, Director of the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, Vice Chair, Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, and Associate Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, Psychiatry, Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “By bringing advanced AI into genomic research, we’re moving closer to making personalized, precision medicine a reality for all.”
“AI has the power to unlock the secrets of the human genome and transform health care for billions of people worldwide,” said Dr. Nati Daniel and Dr. Yoli Shavit, Applied AI Architecture at NVIDIA. “The development of a state-of-the-art Genomic Foundation Model (gFM), brings together clinicians, geneticists, bioinformaticians, and AI researchers to tackle one of science’s greatest challenges with NVIDIA’s full-stack AI platform.”
Also Read: Iambic Raises $100M to Advance AI-Discovered Therapeutics
At Mount Sinai, the initiative will be anchored within the larger Mount Sinai Million Health Discoveries Program. The program, founded and led by Dr. Charney, is the flagship initiative of CBIPM, the Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, and the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai. It brings together genomics, AI, and clinical translation to advance precision medicine in the real world.
“This partnership exemplifies the power of global collaboration at the intersection of science, medicine, and technology,” said Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “By working with Sheba Medical Center and NVIDIA, we are unlocking new possibilities to decode the vast, uncharted regions of the human genome and advance discoveries that will benefit patients worldwide.”
“This collaboration unites three global powerhouses to push the boundaries of what’s possible in medicine,” said Prof. Eyal Zimlichman, Director of ARC and Chief Innovation, Transformation and AI Officer at Sheba Medical Center, and Avner Halperin, CEO of Sheba Impact at ARC. “Only by combining the unique strengths of the three partnering organizations can we solve one of the toughest challenges in healthcare that touches at the very core of how the human body works. This allows us to take AI to a place where it empowers a fundamental transformation in healthcare accelerating scientific discovery, strengthening health systems, improving healthcare outcomes globally, and driving new economic value throughout the ecosystem.”
The initiative’s initial focus will be on areas of medicine where genetic complexity has long hindered scientific progress. The platform will analyze the interplay of thousands of genomic regions to help researchers identify underlying mechanisms that contribute to disease and to uncover potential therapeutic targets.
At Sheba, the project was made possible due to the work of Dr. Omri Nayshool and Dr. Tal Zinger from the Cancer Research Center, Dr. Dan Dominissini from the Laboratories Division, and Raizy Kellerman, Dan Ofer, and Guy Leib from ARC Innovation.
The collaboration will be co-led by ARC’s newly established AI Center at Sheba, which serves as a hub for global partnerships advancing the intersection of medicine and AI, together with Mount Sinai’s Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine and Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, serving as a unified engine for accelerating breakthroughs at the nexus of genomics, data science, and AI-driven clinical innovation.
Source: Mount Sinai
