As the next wave of healthcare innovation unfolds, CUSP faculty are harnessing growing technology to accelerate drug discovery and development. Our faculty are pioneering the movement to integrate AI-powered tools to enhance clinical decision-making, research, and influence the nation’s patient safety policies. 

Assistant Professor Moom Roosan, PharmD, PhD, leverages emerging research technologies to bridge her interdisciplinary expertise, expanding the possibilities of pharmacological and behavioral studies to influence computational drug design and discovery. With the employment of machine learning, Roosan’s research demonstrates how high-level neural networks designed to model human cognitive processes can synthesize complex data and generate predictive insights that would traditionally require months of research. 

One finding revealed promising drug discovery opportunities using graph neural networks (GNNs), with futuristic potential to contemporize areas like drug-target interaction prediction, drug repurposing, and drug-drug interaction analysis. In a recent publication in Frontiers in Pharmacology, Dr. Roosan wrote that by “leveraging vast datasets and computational power, ML has enabled researchers to uncover patterns, predict outcomes, and accelerate drug development processes that were previously unimaginable.”

Researchers at CUSP found that ML may redefine the scientific drug development process, shortening years of testing to mere months. Utilizing machine learning as an alternative allows researchers at Chapman University to be dynamic, nimble, and methodical in exploring novel therapies that might have remained undiscovered.

CUSP’s state-of-the-art technology ensures our faculty and their research teams remain at the forefront of AI-driven healthcare tools. With these tools, students gain a critical understanding of healthcare’s evolving landscape and learn first-hand best practices as healthcare continues to embrace deep research and its byproducts. These developments inspire Chapman University faculty to explore where else this technology can be applied to improve patient care. 

Interested in being part of this movement toward the future of healthcare? Click here to learn more about earning your degree with CUSP. 

This article was co-authored by Silas Fernandes.