Tunisian startup, “InstaDeep”, which is in the top 100 of the best companies in Artificial Intelligence, co-organizes with the organization “INDABA”, a big challenge called “#IndabaGrandChallenge”, for the identification of a treatment for Leishmaniasis.

“Leishmaniasis is a neglected disease. As a disease of poverty, it has historically received limited funding for discovery, development and delivery of new tools. Current treatment is costly, lengthy, painful and sometimes toxic. At the same time, new drug candidates are being developed and old ones are being tested every day. Today, millions of drug activity assays are available at the press of a button. In this Indaba Grand Challenge, we dare to ask you to help identify amongst the already known, tested and (often) approved drugs, potential cures for different forms of leishmaniasis,” the startup said in a press release.

Here Is What You Need To Know

• The organizers of this initiative are seeking, in collaboration with Deep Learning “INDABA”, to propose a new treatment, comprising a Leishmania protein (either of a defined species, or a protein present in the proteome of one or more Leishmania species) and a small molecule (or set of small molecules).
• The initiative targets experts passionate about data science or Machine Learning, people active in “bioinformatics and pathformatics”, researchers, practitioners and clinicians of kinetoplastids as well as Universities, institutes and research organizations.
•  Leishmaniasis is a chronic disease with cutaneous and / or visceral manifestation, kills each year more than 50 thousand people in Africa, Middle East and Latin America.
  It affects 12 million people in nearly 90 countries on our planet. Each year more than 2 million new cases appear.
• The #IndabaGrandChallenge thus brings together civil society, the community of doctors, chemical epidemiologists but also datascientists, for a single mission: to find a medicine to cure this disease.

Read also: Kenya Leads in Attracting Venture Capital

How To Apply

To know more about #IndabaGrandChallenge, including how to apply, click here. 

About InstaDeep

• Founded in 2014 in Tunis, Tunisia, by Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim, InstaDeep is now based in London and has offices in Paris, Tunis, Nairobi and Lagos.
• The start-up applies deep reinforcement learning and other advanced machine learning techniques to create AI (Artificial Intelligence) systems that can help companies make better business decisions in the industrial environment, according to the same source.
• The start-up InstaDeep has managed to establish an excellent reputation by providing “solid and unique” AI solutions.
• It is one of the first African startups to publish original AI research at the conference on machine learning and computer neuroscience Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2018).
• The startup was also one of eight companies selected from the 84th international selection jury of Endeavor.
• The Tunisian company has been ranked by the famous analysis firm CB Insights, which lists startups from 13 countries, in its top 100 of the best companies.

About INDABA

• The Deep Learning organization “INDABA”, has the mission to strengthen machine learning and artificial intelligence in Africa.
• The word INDABA indicates in the Zolo language, a gathering or a meeting to share and listen to the news of the community in Southern Africa and to consult on questions of common interest.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer