EP 256: Cutting through the AI hype in drug discovery with Dave Hallett of Recursion

This week on The Genetics Podcast, Patrick is joined by Dr. David Hallett, Chief Scientific Officer at Recursion. They discuss the biggest shifts in drug discovery over Dave's three-decade career, where AI is genuinely transforming the field today versus where the hype outruns the reality, and how Recursion's perturbational maps have uncovered and validated a novel neurodegeneration target.

Show Notes

0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast

01:00 Welcome to Dave

01:57 The biggest shifts in drug discovery over three decades

06:39 Where AI is delivering real wins across drug discovery today

12:19 How AI-assisted trial simulation reveals which eligibility criteria to relax

14:46 The three biggest reasons drug programs fail in the clinic 

18:20 How Recursion's perturbational maps uncover new drug targets

24:58 A four-step framework for validating a novel drug target

28:44 How Recursion balances deep therapeutic focus with partnership breadth

30:52 Why AI can't shortcut clinical trials, and what proof of real impact looks like

34:57 The skills scientists need most in the AI era, and why trusting AI outputs starts with trusting the data

39:52 Closing remarks

Find out more:

• Recursion (https://www.recursion.com/)