Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Unlock New Frontiers in Biotechnology Webinar

Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Unlock New Frontiers in Biotechnology Webinar

We are delighted to invite you to an upcoming webinar exploring one of the most exciting intersections in modern science.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the way we design experiments, analyse complex biological systems, and accelerate biotechnological innovation. This webinar will showcase cutting‑edge applications, emerging research, and the transformative potential of AI‑driven biotechnology.

Panel members include:
-Dr. David Nelson (New York University Abu Dhabi): Applications of protein large language models for non-model organisms
-Dr. Min Zhao (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia): AI-Based Agent to Teach BLAST to Understand What You Actually Want
-Dr. Roy Costilla (Cawthron): Can ML improve genomic prediction in Aquaculture? An application to Chinook salmon in New Zealand

You may wish to register to attend or via the Zoom link, on the 31st March from 3 pm to 5 pm AEST.

Zoom link

Speakers

Dr Roy Costilla

Applied Geneticist

Cawthron Institute

Roy Costilla is a statistician and applied geneticist within the Aquaculture group. He is an experienced scientist and works with a range of livestock and aquaculture species. Roy is involved in several research and commercial projects, including the Climate Adapted Finfish and Shellfish Aquaculture Programmes, where he applies his expertise to support innovation in New Zealand’s aquaculture industry.

Dr Min Zhao

Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer

UniSC

Dr Min Zhao is a Senior Lecturer at UniSC, School of Science, Technology and Engineering, specialising in bioinformatics and genomics. He graduated from Peking University in 2009 with a PhD and subsequently undertook a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position at Vanderbilt University, USA, where he focused on the analysis and integration of high-throughput genomic, transcriptome, and literature data in complex diseases.

Dr David Nelson

Senior Research Scientist

New York University Abu Dhabi

David Nelson develops AI models for biological sequence analysis and generates large-scale genomic resources to address evolutionary and systems-level questions. Recent work includes interpretable deep learning for protein function prediction (Patterns, 2025), a telomere-to-telomere gorilla genome (Scientific Data, 2025), comparative macroalgal genomics (Molecular Plant, 2024), and viral drivers of microalgal evolution (Cell Host & Microbe, 2021).