Scientists at the University of Virginia (UVA) are pioneering innovative applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare, setting a new course in medical research. 8News spoke with Dr. Jeff Saucerman, a lead researcher in the project, to learn more about their work.
“We’re trying to combine scientific knowledge with AI,” Dr. Saucerman explained. He highlighted the significant impact of heart failure, which claims the lives of over 400,000 Americans annually. This number is projected to increase by 40% in the next six to eight years. In response to this rising threat, Dr. Saucerman and his team, experts in biomedical engineering at UVA, are exploring new strategies to combat the disease.
Their approach takes a fresh perspective on a long-standing challenge. “Discovering drugs is incredibly difficult,” Dr. Saucerman stated. “Most drugs fail when going through clinical trials.” Recognizing this problem, the team is exploring an alternative strategy: repurposing existing drugs.
“What we’re finding is that you can identify existing drugs that are already known to be safe and already shown to work really well in your brain,” Dr. Saucerman said. “For example, [drugs] that [have] potential to be repurposed for the heart.”
The team has developed an innovative model called LogiRx. This model synthesizes existing knowledge about cellular function with AI tools designed to identify cause-and-effect relationships. This combination of information allows the team to detect patterns and determine which established drugs might prove beneficial beyond their original intended purposes.
Dr. Saucerman offered “Lexapro” as an example. “[Lexapro is] prescribed to like 30 million Americans for anxiety, depression,” he explained. “We’re finding [the drug] actually has promise on these heart muscle cells and preventing their growth.” This discovery opens possibilities for treating heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions using medications like Lexapro that are currently used primarily for brain-related disorders.
Dr. Saucerman noted that the research is ongoing, spanning at least eight years, and has the potential to evolve in various directions. He further expressed his gratitude to the National Institute of Health for its support, acknowledging that this work would not be possible without their assistance.
