A recent article in Nature details why the quest to determine the shapes of RNA is difficult even for artificial intelligence.

On April 10, 2025, the Center for Data-Driven Drug Development and Treatment Assessment (DATA), an NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC), held its third Spring meeting, in Ann Arbor, MI. Hosted at the University of Michigan (U-M), DATA creates and fosters scientific partnerships between industry, government, and academia, focusing on drug discovery that is based on data and tools such as modeling, AI and machine learning.

On March 21, 2025, Jialin Liu, Ph.D., defended his doctoral dissertation titled “Mapping Cell Fate Transitions from Single-Cell Multi-Omic and Spatial Transcriptomic Data.” His mentor was professor Joshua Welch, Associate Professor in the Gilbert S. Omenn Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics (DCMB) and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Researchers at the Rogel Cancer Center, in collaboration with Arcascope, have developed and tested a personalized app that tracks a user’s circadian rhythm and makes behavioral recommendations to reduce daily fatigue.

Diya Kannappan is a first-year undergraduate student in LSA who also participates in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). She is a trainee in the Athey lab, where she learns to evaluate the accuracy of the algorithm used in the first step of single-molecule sequencing. This work will be used to assess the effectiveness of Tamoxifen, a drug commonly used to treat breast cancer. Her training includes AI and machine learning application to enhance predictions for Tamoxifen dosing in breast cancer patients.

There are an estimated 86 billion neurons in the human brain. Neuroscientists are actively exploring the importance of single or small groups of neurons versus networks of billions of neurons in the processing of sensory information, storage of memories, generation of movement, and everything else the brain does. Until recently, it simply wasn't possible to study billions of neurons at once. In today's episode, we talk with U-M's Dr. Anne Draelos, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and assistant professor of computational medicine and bioinformatics, who is using A.I. and bioinformatics to reveal the hidden networks of the brain, and exploring how gaining this understanding could improve lives.