Penn Researchers Earn Honorable Mention in Laude Institute Moonshots Competition

One of the greatest challenges in discovering new drugs, even when using AI, is a lack of high-quality data. Existing molecular databases often include only limited information about compounds’ properties, making it harder for AI tools to spot the patterns that could unlock new therapies.

Now, researchers at Penn Engineering, the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) and the School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) have earned an honorable mention and $100,000 from the Laude Institute for a bold new proposal: using AI to create better, more informative datasets for AI-driven drug discovery.

The “moonshot” proposal would leverage the vast amount of more nuanced information about molecules embedded in scientific papers to craft more detailed databases, which can then serve as training material for AI models looking to propose new chemistries for, say, antibiotics.

The researchers represent Penn Engineering, the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Arts & Sciences. (Credit: Sylvia Zhang)

“There is so much knowledge in the scientific literature,” says Jacob Gardner, Assistant Professor in Computer and Information Science (CIS) and one of the grant’s co-principal investigators. “AI can help us leverage that knowledge, by extracting the data we need.”

The team also includes Yoseph Barash, Professor in Genetics and in CIS; César de la Fuente, Presidential Associate Professor in Bioengineering and in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering within Penn Engineering, in Chemistry within SAS and in Psychiatry and in Microbiology within PSOM; Zachary Ives, Department Chair and Adani President’s Distinguished Professor in CIS; Mark Yatskar, Assistant Professor in CIS; and Andrew Zahrt, Assistant Professor in Chemistry.

The highly competitive Moonshots contest drew 125 proposals from more than 600 researchers across 47 leading institutions in the United States and Canada. Honorable mention teams were selected from the same pool as the competition’s top awardees, and Penn’s team will also take part in a dedicated showcase later this year for funders assembled to support the projects.

Learn More at the Laude Institute