Oxford and 2U Launch New Programme in AI-Driven Drug Discovery

The University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM) has partnered with education company 2U to launch a new programme focused on the use of artificial intelligence in drug discovery and medicine.

The six-week online Oxford AI in Drug Discovery and Medicine Programme is designed for scientists, researchers and R&D professionals looking to understand how AI can be applied across biomedical research, while also addressing the ethical and regulatory challenges that come with its use.

The programme will cover applications of AI across areas including target identification, biomarker discovery, patient stratification and therapeutic prediction. Participants will also work with industry tools including MedChemica and Target Safety, with no coding experience required.

The curriculum has been developed by NDM faculty with experience in open-science drug discovery research. This includes work on international drug discovery initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic and OpenBind, an open-science consortium developing a large public dataset connecting protein structures with binding measurements.

From AI applications to implementation

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in drug discovery, the programme is intended to go beyond the technical capabilities of individual tools.

Participants will explore issues including algorithmic bias, model explainability and the responsible deployment of AI in medicine. Practical assessments throughout the course will culminate in an AI implementation roadmap that participants can take back to their organisations.

Dr Abigail Rickard, Head of Academic Programmes at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, said the programme aims to give professionals an understanding of both the technology and the wider scientific and regulatory environment in which it is being used.

The partnership represents a further expansion of 2U's relationship with the University of Oxford. The companies currently work together on more than 40 online executive education programmes and open courses delivered through edX, spanning areas including business, law, government, healthcare and medicine.

A second NDM programme, the Oxford Nuffield Healthcare Management Programme, is also expected to launch later this year.

The collaboration comes as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies continue to explore how AI can be incorporated into drug discovery and development, from identifying potential targets and predicting therapeutic responses to improving the analysis of increasingly complex biological datasets.

For professionals working at the intersection of AI, drug discovery and biomedical research, the Oxford programme is intended to provide a route into these applications without requiring a background in computer programming.