WashU Prof Wins NIH R35 to Decode Human-Specific Gene Regulation with AI
anshulkundaje · x · 2026-10-01
Yang (Eric) Li, assistant professor at Washington University School of Medicine, received a five-year NIH MIRA (R35) award to develop AI/ML and comparative genomics approaches for interpreting human genetic variation. His team will integrate single-cell multimodal genomic data across species to match cell populations, identify differences in gene regulatory programs, and decipher the regulatory "code" — focusing on how enhancers evolved — to explain why treatments successful in animal models often fail in human trials.
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