DALLAS – April 12, 2023 – New technologies that can capture subtle changes in a patient's voice may help physicians diagnose cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease before symptoms begin to show, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher who led a study published in the Alzheimer's Association publication Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. "Our focus was on identifying subtle language and audio changes that are present in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease but not easily recognizable by family members or an individual's primary care physician," said Ihab Hajjar, M.D., Professor of Neurology at UT Southwestern's Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute. Researchers used advanced machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) tools to assess speech patterns in 206 people – 114 who met the criteria for mild cognitive decline and 92 who were unimpaired. The team then mapped those findings to commonly used biomarkers to determine their efficacy in measuring impairment. Study participants, who were enrolled in a research program at Emory University in Atlanta, were given several standard cognitive assessments before being asked to record a spontaneous 1- to 2-minute description of artwork.

UT Southwestern and University of Washington researchers led an international team that used artificial intelligence (AI) and evolutionary analysis to produce 3D models of eukaryotic protein interactions. The study, published in Science, identified more than 100 probable protein complexes for the first time and provided structural models for more than 700 previously uncharacterized ones. Insights into the ways pairs or groups of proteins fit together to carry out cellular processes could lead to a wealth of new drug targets. "Our results represent a significant advance in the new era in structural biology in which computation plays a fundamental role," said Qian Cong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development with a secondary appointment in Biophysics. Dr. Cong led the study with David Baker, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Dr. Cong's postdoctoral mentor at the University of Washington prior to her recruitment to UT Southwestern.

DALLAS – Nov. 16, 2021 – UT Southwestern and University of Washington researchers led an international team that used artificial intelligence (AI) and evolutionary analysis to produce 3D models of eukaryotic protein interactions. The study, published in Science, identified more than 100 probable protein complexes for the first time and provided structural models for more than 700 previously uncharacterized ones. Insights into the ways pairs or groups of proteins fit together to carry out cellular processes could lead to a wealth of new drug targets. "Our results represent a significant advance in the new era in structural biology in which computation plays a fundamental role," said Qian Cong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development with a secondary appointment in Biophysics. Dr. Cong led the study with David Baker, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Dr. Cong's postdoctoral mentor at the University of Washington prior to her recruitment to UT Southwestern.

An international team led by researchers at UT Southwestern and the University of Washington predicted the structures using artificial intelligence techniques. UT Southwestern and University of Washington researchers led an international team that used artificial intelligence (AI) and evolutionary analysis to produce 3D models of eukaryotic protein interactions. The study, published in Science, identified more than 100 probable protein complexes for the first time and provided structural models for more than 700 previously uncharacterized ones. Insights into the ways pairs or groups of proteins fit together to carry out cellular processes could lead to a wealth of new drug targets. "Our results represent a significant advance in the new era in structural biology in which computation plays a fundamental role," said Qian Cong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development with a secondary appointment in Biophysics.

UT Southwestern and University of Washington researchers led an international team that used artificial intelligence (AI) and evolutionary analysis to produce 3D models of eukaryotic protein interactions. The study, published in Science, identified more than 100 probable protein complexes for the first time and provided structural models for more than 700 previously uncharacterized ones. Insights into the ways pairs or groups of proteins fit together to carry out cellular processes could lead to a wealth of new drug targets. "Our results represent a significant advance in the new era in structural biology in which computation plays a fundamental role," said Qian Cong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development with a secondary appointment in Biophysics. Dr. Cong led the study with David Baker, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Dr. Cong's postdoctoral mentor at the University of Washington prior to her recruitment to UT Southwestern.

DALLAS – Sept. 23, 2021 – Researchers and data scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed an artificial intelligence technique that can identify which cell surface peptides produced by cancer cells called neoantigens are recognized by the immune system. The pMTnet technique, detailed online in Nature Machine Intelligence, could lead to new ways to predict cancer prognosis and potential responsiveness to immunotherapies. "Determining which neoantigens bind to T cell receptors and which don't has seemed like an impossible feat. But with machine learning, we're making progress," said senior author Dr. Tao Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Population and Data Sciences, and with the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern. Mutations in the genome of cancer cells cause them to display different neoantigens on their surfaces.

DALLAS – August 3, 2021 – Using artificial intelligence (AI), researchers from UT Southwestern have developed a way to accurately predict which skin cancers are highly metastatic. The findings, published as the July cover article of Cell Systems, show the potential for AI-based tools to revolutionize pathology for cancer and a variety of other diseases. "We now have a general framework that allows us to take tissue samples and predict mechanisms inside cells that drive disease, mechanisms that are currently inaccessible in any other way," said study leader Gaudenz Danuser, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics at UTSW. AI technology has significantly advanced over the past several years, Dr. Danuser explained, with deep learning-based methods able to distinguish minute differences in images that are essentially invisible to the human eye. Researchers have proposed using this latent information to look for differences in disease characteristics that could offer insight on prognoses or guide treatments.

Using artificial intelligence (AI), researchers from UT Southwestern have developed a way to accurately predict which skin cancers are highly metastatic. The findings, published as the July cover article of Cell Systems, show the potential for AI-based tools to revolutionize pathology for cancer and a variety of other diseases. "We now have a general framework that allows us to take tissue samples and predict mechanisms inside cells that drive disease, mechanisms that are currently inaccessible in any other way," said study leader Gaudenz Danuser, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics at UTSW. AI technology has significantly advanced over the past several years, Dr. Danuser explained, with deep learning-based methods able to distinguish minute differences in images that are essentially invisible to the human eye. Researchers have proposed using this latent information to look for differences in disease characteristics that could offer insight on prognoses or guide treatments.

IMAGE: ECMO machines such as this one save countless lives, but in some cases can lead to brain injury. A UT Southwestern study used machine learning to accurately predict which babies... view more DALLAS - Oct. 1, 2020 - When newborn babies or children with heart or lung distress are struggling to survive, doctors often turn to a form of life support that uses artificial lungs. This treatment, called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), has been credited with saving countless lives. But in some cases, it can also lead to long-term brain injury. Now, a research team led by UT Southwestern scientists has shown that a machine learning program can predict, more accurately than doctors, which babies and children are most likely to suffer brain injury after ECMO.

New artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities may make it possible to improve the effectiveness of brachytherapy for men with prostate cancer (PCa) by almost instantly generating dosage plans, according to investigators. In a typical high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy procedure for PCa, needle applicators are first inserted by the physician to the tumor target. A planner then develops a treatment plan manually. During this time the patient carries the needles, waiting for the planning to finish. With the current standard of care, it takes up to an hour or more to generate a high-quality plan.