Bioinformatician Yves Moreau is a professor of engineering science at the
University of Leuven, Belgium. Moreau is at the forefront of the development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications for the analysis of DNA in disease diagnosis and medication development. He engineers algorithms for use in largescale data analyses that guarantee the protection of privacy. Moreau champions the implementation of robust ethical standards concerning the handling of sensitive data in science. He lectures in big data ethics at the University of Leuven. As a concerned scientist, he is regularly involved
in public debates and is a vocal opponent of genetic surveillance technologies. He also offers his expertise to journalists, human rights activists, and other interested parties. Moreau aims to establish a strong ethical awareness among data scientists, which is essential in the age of AI, mass surveillance, and large language models such as ChatGPT. He aims to use the prize money of €200,000 for the Individual Award as a catalyst for advancing this cultural shift in the field of data science.