Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov convened a meeting of the Supreme Board of Trustees of NU (NU), Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, and Nazarbayev Foundation. Members of the Supreme Board of Trustees explored the state-of-the-art laboratories of NU and its latest scientific developments. They visited the Institute for Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence, Pulsed Accelerator Laboratories, Advanced Nanomaterials, Genomic and Personalized Medicine.
The chairman of the Supreme Board of Trustees, Mr Olzhas Bektenov, outlined specific tasks for integrating science and industry and expanding access to scientific infrastructure for the Kazakh research community. He also emphasized that special attention should be paid to the issue of interaction between NU and regional universities located near industrial production.
“The university needs to strengthen the development of scientific and educational resources and strengthen partnerships with industrial enterprises to commercialize its developments. All this will contribute to the growth of science’s contribution to the country’s economy. The potential of Intellectual Schools in turn should be maximally used to support schools in the regions. Our task is to provide children with quality education. We, on our part, will provide the necessary support”, – highlighted Mr. Olzhas Bektenov.
Now, research teams at NU laboratories are engaged in artificial intelligence development, studying innovations in optoelectronics to introduce green technologies and expanding the capabilities of diagnosing and treating complex diseases.
“We have completed the initial Phase I and Phase II studies of the drug and have received encouraging results. We will continue to conduct clinical trials, during which we should reach the maximum tolerated dose of the drug to get the maximum effect from the treatment,” said Dos Sarbasov, General director of the National Laboratory Astana (NLA), about his team’s work on creating an effective cancer drug.
Oncology drug development is one of the NLA’s many ambitious projects. The laboratory, equipped with five powerful electron microscopes, conducts collaborative research for most startups in science and engineering.
“One of the main directions we are developing in our laboratory is the study of the Kazakh reference genome. That is, how unique and different we are from other populations to build a reference genomic base of genomic variants,” commented Ainur Akilzhanova, Acting Director of the NLA NU Center of Life Sciences.
Scientists are creating a “genetic profile” of Kazakh citizens, which would help identify predispositions to diseases and contribute to public health protection and domestic medicine development. The Supreme Board of Trustees was presented to an accelerator for research on water purification and hydrogen generation, created jointly with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the United States.
