Noor Shaker: From Syria to AI Enabled Drug Discovery

03/22/22 • 47 min

Today’s guest is Noor Shaker – a Syrian serial biotech entrepreneur, computer scientist and inventor.

Noor started life in Syria where she fell in love with technology and the potential of Artificial Intelligence. Flouting convention at the time, Noor moved to Europe to continue her studies, gaining a Masters in AI and PhD in Machine Learning.

In 2006, she became Assistant Professor at Aalborg University in Denmark with research focused on the use of machine learning in affective computing and video games.

Noor then made her way to London and joined Entrepreneur First – the startup incubator/investor where she co-founded GTN (Generative Tensorial Networks), a startup aiming to combine quantum computing and AI for drug discovery. In our conversation today, Noor describes in detail what it felt like to leave her first company and what gave her the courage to move on and start Glamorous AI where she continues her work in AI-enabled drug discovery work. Glamorous AI was acquired by X-Chem at the end of 2021 with Noor taking on the title of Senior Vice President and General Manager, at London Chem-X.

In this wide-reaching interview, Noor opens up about what it takes to innovate in well-established scientific spaces, how her AI platform RosalindAI enables drug discovery at a far greater speed and far less cost than traditional methods, the importance of representation, and how losing her mother so young drives her to ensure she leaves behind a legacy that has a positive impact on as many people as possible.

Noor is on a dedicated mission to cure disease with the marriage of human and machine learning. And I look forward to watching her achieve this.

Here is my conversation with the incredible Noor Shaker.

---

Noor Twitter / Glamorous AI / X-Chem

Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

Today’s guest is Noor Shaker – a Syrian serial biotech entrepreneur, computer scientist and inventor.

In 2006, she became Assistant Professor at Aalborg University in Denmark with research focused on the use of machine learning in affective computing and video games.

Noor is on a dedicated mission to cure disease with the marriage of human and machine learning. And I look forward to watching her achieve this.

Here is my conversation with the incredible Noor Shaker.

---

Noor Twitter / Glamorous AI / X-Chem

Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

Previous Episode

Cat Noone on Inclusive Design, Grief and Purpose

Today’s guest is designer, founder and CEO, Cat Noone.

Cat grew up with her grandparents in Brooklyn, New York. She started her career in web design and then worked in special education before founding the Iris app which was a modern-day emergency alert – and going on to co-found and be Chief Designer Officer at Liberio, an eBook publishing tool.

Cat is now co-founder and CEO of Stark – which provides a beautifully designed suite of tools for designers and developers to ensure their software products are more accessible and compliant for all.

In today’s episode, Cat and I discuss the difficult childhood she had and how it shaped her a person as well the career path she has followed, making technology as accessible as possible to all. At the core of Cat’s mission is something close to her heart - this idea that no one should be excluded. No one should be left behind.

It’s a truly heartfelt conversation and I am so grateful to Cat for opening up like this. As I say in the interview, I really believe that in being vulnerable as founders, we help others and I think that sums Cat up. She wants to channel her energy for good. And she does exactly like that.

I really enjoyed our conversation and feel I learned a lot from it. And I think you will too.

You’re listening to the Danielle Newnham Podcast where I interview tech founders and to learn the inspiring, human stories behind the game-changing tech we use every day.

Cat Twitter / Instagram / Stark / Substack Newsletter

Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

Next Episode

Andy Hertzfeld on the Macintosh, Steve Jobs and General Magic (REPLAY)

It’s hard to believe it but has been a year now since I kicked off the show and as I have gained tens of thousands of new listeners since then, I thought it might be nice to head back in time and re-share my very first guest – the one and only - Andy Hertzfeld who also happens to be one of my favourite people in tech. Andy helped revolutionise the home PC industry as part of the original Macintosh team before founding his own startups including General Magic which imagined the iPhone - seventeen years ahead of time.

In this conversation which was recorded on 11th November 2020, Andy Hertzfeld shares his inspiring story from childhood through to creating the Macintosh and on to General Magic including the highs and lows along the way.

We discuss his career and friendship with Steve Jobs and what it takes to hold a seemingly impossible vision, build a pioneering team capable of achieving it and, most importantly, when and how best to execute.

There are many great stories in this episode, and anecdotes of a pivotal time in tech history but, best of all, Andy shares the lessons he learned from the successes, and the failures.

Enjoy!

Andy Twitter / Website

Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

Notes

In this episode, Andy and I discuss:

"Marc" which is Marc Porat - the co-founder of General Magic with Andy and Bill Atkinson. In 1990, Marc wrote the following note to John Sculley, imagining a truly smart phone: "A tiny computer, a phone, a very personal object . . . It must be beautiful. It must offer the kind of personal satisfaction that a fine piece of jewellery brings. It will have a perceived value even when it's not being used... Once you use it you won't be able to live without it." NB My interview with Marc can be found here.

The General Magic documentary can be found on iTunes here.

Andy's book - Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made - can be bought here.

Series 1 of this podcast and the original episode with Andy was sponsored by Sensate and edited by Jolin Cheng.