Digital Twins in Medicine: The Future of Clinical Trials
What if a virtual version of you could help cure disease?In this episode of Agents of Tech, hosts Autria Godfrey and Stephen Horn explore the fascinating world of digital twins—virtual replicas of real-world entities that are revolutionizing industries, especially healthcare. From their origins in NASA’s Apollo missions to accelerating clinical trials today, digital twins are changing how we predict, prevent, and personalize treatment.Featuring Aaron Smith, founder and machine learning scientist at UnLearn, we discuss how AI-driven digital twin models are transforming clinical trials—cutting costs, speeding up timelines, and reducing the need for placebo groups.Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more deep dives into the future of tech and science. 00:00 - Welcome to Agents of Tech00:15 - What are Digital Twins?01:00 - Origins in NASA and Apollo 1301:30 - From Static to Intelligent Twins02:30 - AI-powered evolution: Science fiction becomes science fact03:45 - Applications in Medicine & Clinical Trials04:30 - Guest intro: Aaron Smith from UnLearn05:10 - How Digital Twins Accelerate Clinical Trials07:00 - The AI models behind the magic08:20 - Why focus on clinical trials, not patient care?10:15 - Reducing risk and increasing trial power12:00 - Future of Phase 3 trials13:30 - The long-term vision for digital twins in medicine15:00 - Placebo groups and statistical innovation17:00 - Machine learning in rare diseases18:20 - Regulatory frameworks: EMA & FDA alignment21:00 - What makes a disease suitable for digital twin modeling?22:30 - Pharma partnerships and proprietary data24:00 - Recap: Why this tech changes everything25:15 - Outro: Like & subscribe!