In a recent article, “The Next Frontier for Vaccines: Using AI to Predict Antigens”, Texas A&M has turned a spotlight on Dr. Byung-Jun Yoon’s new research project sponsored by the ARPA-H (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health) through its ambitious APECx (Antigens Predicted for Broad Viral Efficacy through Computational Experimentation) program.

The five-year up to $11 million project entitled “SPHERICAL: Scientific Platform for High Efficacy Antigen Design via Robust Integration of Computational Experiments, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Protein Modeling” and led by Dr. Yoon focuses on computational prediction of antigens that could be used for creating future vaccines that are broadly effective against multiple strains of viruses in the same family.

In this project, Dr. Yoon will work with Dr. Xiaoning Qian (TAMU ECE) and Dr. Shuiwang Ji (TAMU CSE) as well as a multi-institutional team of experts at Princeton; University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB); the University of Missouri; Stony Brook University; University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and Argonne National Laboratory.

“What if we can actually generate vaccines and predict antigens that can be used for developing such vaccines that have broad efficacy for multiple strains in the same viral family? Even though it may not be optimal for a specific strain, it’ll retain its robustness and efficacy for broad viral strains in a given family, keeping the vaccine more effective for a longer period for a larger population.” – Dr. Byung-Jun Yoon

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