Melissa Pappas
Some of the most exciting applications of AI technologies are in the medical field. In episode 6 of the Penn Engineering Innovation & Impact podcast, host Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering and Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and experts share how the distinct fields of chemical engineering, artificial intelligence and biochemistry have come together at Penn in a revolutionary way to establish the U.S. National Science Foundation Artificial Intelligence-driven RNA Foundry (NSF AIRFoundry), which is set to revolutionize and democratize RNA-based technologies using AI.
With the success of mRNA vaccines already having a lifesaving impact, the interdisciplinary team at Penn’s NSF AIRFoundry is building an open-access platform that uses AI to enhance human knowledge, creating novel ways to design and deliver RNA molecules for future breakthroughs. This exciting effort combines the power of AI and RNA research, harnessing the latest advancements in machine learning and large language models to accelerate progress in this transformative field. Panelists and NSF AIRFoundry team members include:
Daeyeon Lee, Russel Pierce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, whose work examines the interactions of soft materials at or near interfaces to guide the assembly of macroscopic structures for applications in healthcare and sustainability;
Zachary Ives, Adani President’s Distinguished Professor and Chair of Computer and Information Science, who works on data integration and sharing, data provenance and trustworthiness, and machine learning systems; and
Kathy Fange Liu, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, who brings her integral expertise in enzymology, biochemistry, spectroscopy, structural biology and RNA biology to this collaboration.
Listen to the full episode to learn more about the NSF AIRFoundry and its mission to democratize RNA technology and make these therapeutic tools accessible to both experts and newcomers, as well as using this model to facilitate new solutions in health, agriculture, the environment and sustainability.
Each episode of Penn Engineering’s Innovation & Impact podcast shares insight from leading experts at Penn and Penn Engineering on science, technology and medicine.
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