Personalised Medicine Cancer, AI, and Entrepreneurship

Course Overview and Description

Course Overview

This interdisciplinary course explores the frontier of precision oncology, artificial intelligence, and translational entrepreneurship, guiding learners through how scientific discovery becomes clinically meaningful and socially responsible innovation. You examine how molecular profiling, machine learning, immunotherapy, and digital health platforms are reshaping cancer care, from early detection to adaptive trial design, and from underserved populations to scalable solutions.

 

Beyond technical understanding, the course invites you to think carefully about equity, data justice, and the ethics of innovation. You learn to evaluate evidence, recognise uncertainty, and design strategies that are not only scientifically credible, but aligned with real-world constraints, patient safety, and public trust.

 

Course Description

This course provides a research-informed and clinically aligned exploration of personalised oncology, with an innovation lens. Learners explore:

  • Multi-omic tumour profiling, liquid biopsy approaches (ctDNA, CTCs), and spatial biology
  • CRISPR-linked therapeutic strategies, bispecific antibodies, and contemporary immunotherapy platforms
  • AI for diagnostic imaging, radiogenomics, risk stratification, and precision screening
  • Real-world evidence, wearable health data, and federated clinical learning systems
  • Clinical trial redesign, including adaptive protocols, digital twins, N-of-1 approaches, and remote monitoring
  • Global ethical and governance frameworks for data, privacy, and AI deployment
  • Equity and justice in precision care, including algorithmic bias, data disparity, and access barriers in low-resource settings
  • Translational entrepreneurship, including venture building, value-based care, and the fundamentals of sustainable innovation

 

Innovation Sprint

Learners participate in a Cancer Innovation Sprint, working in cross-disciplinary teams to develop:

  • A translational concept (for example, an AI model, diagnostic tool, or digital health platform)
  • A regulatory or ethics-informed policy brief
  • A market strategy or investor-style pitch deck

 

Teams receive structured feedback from experienced reviewers, which may include clinicians, AI scientists, governance professionals, and venture advisors (either real or simulated, depending on cohort and availability). Where appropriate, learners may have the opportunity to share their work in an internal showcase or leadership-style forum.

 

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

  • Apply multi-omic and AI-enabled concepts to personalised cancer diagnosis and therapy scenarios
  • Evaluate translational case studies involving ctDNA, immunotherapies, emerging trial designs, and novel therapeutic strategies
  • Analyse ethical and legal challenges surrounding data use, AI deployment, and equity in innovation
  • Design a solution from molecule to model to market that addresses a defined need in oncology
  • Communicate evidence-led strategies to scientific, policy, or innovation audiences with clarity and responsibility
  • Demonstrate translational judgement by integrating science, ethics, feasibility, and governance considerations

Program Structure

At Afer*Nova, each programme is designed to combine academic depth with real-world relevance, supporting learners to connect scientific understanding with applied decision-making. The curriculum is refreshed regularly in response to developments in biomedical science, innovation ecosystems, and public governance debates.

 

Programmes are intentionally cross-disciplinary, supporting learners across health sciences, engineering, policy, and entrepreneurship.

 

1. Self-Paced Foundation Modules

Learners begin with flexible learning modules that build a strong knowledge base through:

  • Faculty-led videos delivered by experienced educators and researchers
  • Guided readings and real-world case materials
  • Interactive quizzes and reflective tasks

This phase supports independent learning while building confidence in core concepts.

 

2. Live, Case-Based Mentorship Sessions

Learners participate in mentor-guided workshops focused on applied learning, featuring:

  • Cross-disciplinary case challenges
  • Group problem-solving and simulations
  • Structured feedback from facilitators, researchers, or professionals

These sessions support critical thinking, collaboration, and strategic communication.

 

3. Responsive, Global-Relevance Curriculum

Programmes are periodically refreshed to reflect:

  • Advances in science, technology, healthcare, and regulation
  • Input from mentors, academic reviewers, and learner feedback
  • Emerging insights from innovation and governance communities

This helps ensure learning remains current, adaptable, and aligned with evolving needs.

Teaching and Assessment

At Afer*Nova, teaching is designed to help you think like a translational scientist and innovator. You are guided to connect molecular evidence to clinical reality, and to reflect on the ethical and societal consequences of building new technologies in healthcare.

 

Learning includes case-led masterclasses, interactive labs, ethical simulations, leadership challenges, and structured mentoring. Assessment supports both understanding and applied judgement and may include critical reflections, research reviews, prototype or concept briefs, impact reports, peer feedback, oral presentations, and innovation sprint outputs. Final submissions often take the form of a portfolio, project report, or policy brief, supported by structured feedback.

What Sets this Program Apart

At the Nexus of Scientific Discovery, Innovation, and Human Impact

This programme is positioned at the frontier of modern oncology, where molecular medicine meets computational science, and where translational ideas must become scalable, ethically grounded solutions. You learn how to move between domains: from biological mechanism to data interpretation, from clinical constraints to governance realities, and from scientific promise to real-world implementation.

 

Rather than treating cancer biology, AI, and entrepreneurship as separate tracks, the course integrates them, so you learn how complex systems actually function in practice, and why judgement matters as much as technical skill.

 

Mentorship that Develops Translational Thinking

Learners are supported through structured mentoring and detailed feedback from experienced educators and professionals across oncology, AI, governance, and venture design. Mentoring is delivered through supervised teaching and small-group learning, with individual feedback where appropriate. The aim is to help you develop scientific reasoning, systems-level thinking, and narrative clarity, so you can communicate complex ideas to diverse audiences and make evidence-led decisions under uncertainty.

 

A Learning Architecture Built Around Action

The programme centres on active engagement with real challenges in cancer science and innovation. Through the Innovation Sprint, teams conceptualise and present translational solutions, which may include diagnostics for underserved settings, ethically governed AI screening systems, adaptive trial designs, or equitable market strategies. Projects are evaluated through structured feedback designed to strengthen reasoning, feasibility, and responsibility, reflecting the kinds of decisions made in real translational environments.

 

Scholarly Output and Public-Facing Communication

Learners may have the opportunity to develop dissemination-ready outputs that contribute to broader scientific and public conversations. Subject to academic quality standards and supervisory or editorial review, selected outputs may include:

  • chapters or essays in professionally edited volumes on cancer innovation, AI, or health equity
  • white papers and policy briefs focused on governance, equity, trial reform, or ethical AI deployment
  • translational science reports or investor-style presentations developed through the capstone forum

 

Learners who successfully complete programme requirements receive a formal certificate of completion. Where appropriate, and subject to meeting defined performance and professional standards, students may be eligible to request a personalised academic reference letter at the discretion of the supervising faculty member.

 

Programme Highlights

Subject to performance, quality review, and supervision, learners may have the opportunity to:

  • Contribute to a professionally edited volume or chapter on precision oncology, AI-enabled cancer care, or health innovation (editorial selection applies)
  • Develop a translational science article, policy brief, or innovation commentary under expert supervision, with guidance on suitable dissemination pathways where appropriate
  • Design and pitch a real-world solution through the Cancer Innovation Sprint, spanning diagnostics, digital health, or biotech strategy
  • Receive structured mentoring and detailed feedback across oncology, AI, trial design, governance, and equity
  • Earn a programme-issued Certificate of Achievement and, where appropriate, request a tailored academic reference letter to support competitive applications (subject to meeting defined criteria and supervisor discretion)

Personalised Medicine Cancer, AI, and Entrepreneurship

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