Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and UB awarded $1.5 million Department of Energy three-year grant for AI-assisted biomedical research

By Kevin Manne

BUFFALO, N.Y. —  The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $1.5 million to a joint Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and University at Buffalo research project that will use artificial intelligence to study how cells and molecules respond to low doses of radiation.

Edward Snell, PhD, chief scientific officer at Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, and Dominic Sellitto, clinical assistant professor of management science and systems in the UB School of Management, will serve as co-principal investigators on the research.

The project is part of the Low Dose Radiation Research program, which supports research to develop disease risk prediction and understand its role in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, immune dysfunction and cataract formation, and in the longer term, inform radiation protection measures for the public and the workplace. 

“Dr. Snell and his team have developed a method that targets different samples to analyze the biological impact of low doses of radiation, but these kinds of experiments are time-consuming and expensive, so that’s where AI comes in,” said Sellitto. “As his team is refining those experiments, we’re also building a model that will go through all the data to create a lightweight, efficient AI you can just ask a question to, and it will accurately predict what the experiment would have produced. The experimental component allows us to test and validate the computational predictions.” 

“Leveraging the AI expertise of UB allows us to develop a new tool for one area of health research that could have a dramatic impact across many health areas in the future,” said Snell. 

 The research is one of 14 initial projects supported by the Department of Energy that will develop a series of highly curated experimental datasets across a range of cell types to assess changes in cell function due to low dose radiation exposure. These datasets will serve as training data for burgeoning AI and machine learning models for low dose radiation research. 

In the long-term, this new approach may provide a better way to identify markers and patterns linked with altered cellular function that may signal an adverse health outcome.

“These new projects take advantage of the latest advances in biotechnology coupled with advanced computational techniques,” said Dorothy Koch, DOE associate director of science for biological and environmental research. “The new integrated approach could lead to broader insights into the transient and persistent effects of low dose radiation exposure and potential linkages to health effects.”

The awarded projects involving multi-institutional teams include diverse and innovative experimental and computational approaches.

As announced in May, HWI is in the process of joining the university, creating the University at Buffalo Hauptman-Woodward Institute (UB-HWI). The move will bolster the two organizations’ joint mission to advance medical science research and education.  

Snell’s research is reflective of his focus on developing methods to deepen the understanding of biological structure, function and mechanisms. His research interests span both experimental and computational approaches with an increasing emphasis on machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches. Snell’s research, specifically that which is funded through this grant award, is a key example of Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute’s rich history of collaboration and making innovative technological improvements in the entire process of investigation through structural biology.

This project is just one example of how UB research leverages collaboration and continues to push the capabilities and the applications of AI on a number of fronts, all with the aim of tackling societal challenges in everything from medicine to climate change. The university has more than 200 researchers exploring how to use AI and data science to advance cybersecurity, drug discovery, robotics, education, environmental science, transportation and other fields that are critical to the future of the state and nation.

UB will also serve as the home of Empire AI, a $400 million statewide consortium created by Gov. Kathy Hochul which aims to put New York at the forefront of the AI revolution and includes the construction of a new state-of-the-art supercomputing center on UB’s campus.

In the School of Management, faculty are integrating AI into coursework across disciplines, conducting research to make chatbots more effective, securing the U.S. Department of Defense’s most critical artificial intelligence models, analyzing the impact of algorithmic stock trading, exploring factors that increase adoption of AI in teams and more.

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute’s work improves human health by studying the causes of diseases at their basic molecular level, and enabling the development of new drugs and treatment. Their vision is to foster excellence in structural biology research, enhance the links to human health, build future generations of researchers, and to be known locally and nationally. For more information, visit hwi.buffalo.edu.