Murto Hilali’s Journey Of Self-Discovery Through A Work-Term In Drug Discovery
By Manhah Ahmed
Murto Hilali, a fourth-year Biotechnology and Economics student at the University of Waterloo has recently completed a co-op term in Singapore where he had the opportunity to work as a Computational Chemistry Research Student at QDX Technologies; a startup that is working on developing computational tools for drug discovery.
Bioinformatics and Benchmarking for the Best
His role included benchmarking the performance of different AI-based protein-ligand docking models. The process involved curating and identifying various datasets that are typically used to evaluate the performance of protein-ligand docking models. The purpose of benchmarking was to quantify the success of these models given the lack of an industry standard.
Murto described a major challenge in training docking models being data leakage, which occurs when replicates create overlaps between the training and testing datasets resulting in poor accuracy. Murto’s work involved finding a leak proof dataset which he was able to accomplish by testing six different models, retraining two candidate models and reevaluating for accuracy.
In his previous experience working as a Bioinformatics Research Student at SickKids, Murto worked primarily with protein-protein interactions and described the pivot to protein-ligand interactions as an entirely different plane. Protein-ligand interactions with regards to drug screening involves a higher possibility of effects making the realm of research more vast and computational work more extensive. The ultimate goal of Murto’s project at QDX is to act as navigation for researchers to access the most accurate artificial intelligence models for their respective studies.
If I got to give my 17-year-old self any piece advice, I would tell myself to take even more risks, once a year or even once a semester is a good cadence.
Putting Pen and Problem-solving to Programming
Reflecting on some of his long-term interests that inspired the entry into computational biology, Murto mentions the joy he finds in writing and problem-solving.
“Part of the joy of writing is meandering whereas problem-solving prioritizes efficiency. They’re different interests but very creative. The midpoint between both is programming where you have the liberty to be creative while finding an optimal solution.”
Murto’s interest in computational biology translates beyond the professional realm and has harbored years of passion. He has numerous side projects that delve into the intersection of artificial intelligence and protein design. One of his recent escapades included designing a protein or peptide that prevents coffee stains on teeth. He was able to train a few peptide-protein binding-site prediction models in the process. Previously, in late 2019, Murto studied the genetic sequences of Coronavirus spike proteins to create a cladogram through sequence alignment and cluster development.
Waterloo’s co-op program is an incredibly rare opportunity that allows you to pilot-test a different life with every work term and I wanted to make the most of that.
Continents over Comfort: Brought to you by Co-op
Murto’s co-op sequence originally allotted for a work term during Spring 2024, during which he opted out of a return offer to a past workplace and continued the job search in order to hold himself to his personal goal of experiencing an international co-op term. He describes the University of Waterloo’s co-op program as a mode to try various professional roles in different locations; a rare opportunity he was not willing to compromise.
“Being in Biotechnology and Economics with co-op allowed me to explore the spark that was born in high school and during the pandemic through my side projects. My co-op terms encouraged me to foster that flame by surrounding myself with industry experts.”
In order to secure his role at QDX Technonologies, Murto exercised the age-old method of cold emailing with a dramatic subject line to express his interest. This led to a prompt response and three rounds of interviews, resulting in a final interview with the Founder & CEO of QDX prior to getting the offer letter.
Defining Success: Past Lessons and Future Goals
“I really grew up in Singapore, I had to take a more active role in my life. It made me realize if I wanted to accomplish certain things, I needed to really take the leap. As we exit undergrad, there is a lot less structure. Travelling and experiencing new things opened my mind to many more possibilities. “
When prompted about what professional success looks like for Murto in ten years, he describes it consisting of entrepreneurship and professional autonomy. On a personal level, Murto describes success as being in a great city, within walkable proximity of loved ones, and in a position to contribute to those around him.
More information on Murto’s research, projects and passions can be found on Medium and Substack.