The establishment of AITHYRA is continuing. The Research Institute for AI in Biomedicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), which was founded on the initiative of the non-profit Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation (BIS) based in Mainz, is growing: Biochemist Georg Winter will take over the biomedical directorate of AITHYRA from April 2025. The internationally award-winning scientist and ERC prizewinner has been selected as the best applicant in a highly competitive process.
Researcher and founder
Winter previously worked as a group leader at CeMM - Research Center for Molecular Medicine. Before that, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School in the USA. Tailor-made small molecules that attach to cancer-causing proteins and thus render tumor cells harmless are Georg Winter's area of expertise, in which he is one of the world's leading experts. His studies in top journals such as Science and Nature have advanced promising strategies for the development of new cancer drugs. Winter is the founder of several companies, including Proxygen, one of the most successful start-ups in Vienna, which emerged from his research at CeMM. Former employees and students now hold high-ranking positions in international research institutions and/or companies. Georg Winter was the only scientist conducting research in Austria to win the Cancer Grand Challenge as part of a consortium in spring 2024.
OeAW President Heinz Faßmann is delighted with Winter's appointment: “AITHYRA is already becoming a magnet for excellent researchers. Georg Winter was able to prevail as the best candidate against highly qualified applicants. I would like to congratulate him on this. With him as an excellent biochemist, Michael Bronstein as an outstanding AI expert and Anita Ender as an experienced managing director, we have now found the perfect team to lead AITHYRA. Now we can start setting up the research groups and the scientific work.”
Georg Winter says: “I am very much looking forward to the new task and the collaboration with Michael Bronstein. Our common goal is to accelerate the acquisition of scientific knowledge and answer fundamental questions in the life sciences by integrating biomedical research and AI. In this way, we want to develop completely new treatment methods for cancer and other life-threatening diseases.”
“The place where magic happens”
Computer scientist and Oxford University DeepMind Professor Michael Bronstein has been leading AI research at AITHYRA since the institute was founded. He adds: “AITHYRA was founded to combine the best of academic, corporate, and start-up worlds. I cannot imagine a better partner to develop the research direction of AITHYRA and to drive bold ideas forward. The scientific, economic, and societal benefits of an AI-driven life science institute can be groundbreaking. Georg Winter, our Managing Director Anita Ender and myself will make AITHYRA the place where magic happens.”
Stephan Formella, Scientific Director of Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation, says: “After Anita Ender and Michael Bronstein, Georg Winter now completes the management trio of AITHYRA. The ambition, speed and focus on the highest quality in all matters, which was inherent in the AITHYRA project from the very beginning, is now continuing with the start of the operational realisation of the institute. This is a major milestone and at the same time necessary in order to fill the high expectations of the institute's stakeholders with life: To effectively advance the symbiosis of artificial intelligence and biomedical foundations in Europe.”
First institute of its kind in Austria
AITHYRA is the first institute of its kind in Austria and Europe. It will achieve revolutionary advances in biomedicine through the development of AI-supported research approaches. As a specialist in chemical biology, Winter is working on methods to change the function of proteins using chemical agents. Using this approach, for example, he has been able to modulate cellular degradation systems in such a way that pathogenic proteins are specifically degraded. With the help of AI, AITHYRA plans to automate the design process for active substances, among other things, in order to be able to program many other biological processes. The aim is to understand how proteins can communicate with each other and how faulty communication between proteins can cause disease.
Launch in Marxbox at the Vienna BioCenter
With the foundation of AITHYRA last September, the Austrian Academy of Sciences is further expanding its life science focus. The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation is funding the institute with 150 million euros, the largest private research grant ever received in Austria. In February 2025, AITHYRA has moved into its first laboratory and office space in Marxbox at the Vienna BioCenter. In cooperation with the Vienna Business Agency, a new, jointly developed research building will be built by 2029. Further information about the institute and current vacancies can be found at: www.oeaw.ac.at/aithyra