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According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the New Zealand Government has committed up to $4.5 million over four years to a research partnership between the Auckland Bioengineering Institute and the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (University of Texas at Austin) to develop next-generation AI-enabled digital twins.

Digital twins are virtual, highly data-driven models of organs, organisms, and ecosystems. By combining physics-informed AI with multiscale biophysical modelling, this collaboration aims to:

  • Support personalised healthcare and treatment planning.
  • Accelerate drug development.
  • Drive innovation in agricultural and ecosystem science by simulating responses to genetic and environmental change.

Analysis suggests these tools could yield hospital operational savings of up to $32 million a year in NZ, and generate up to $16 million in licensing revenue, depending on uptake.

Funding is being provided via MBIE’s Catalyst Fund. The programme will run in two phases (each two years); continuation into phase two depends on securing matching US federal funding.

Read the full announcement from MBIE here on their website

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