Award
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 1R15HL181657-01A1
RESPOND: Repurposing Drugs for Respiratory Disorders Using a Hybrid Neuro-Symbolic AI Approach
Recipient
St. John's University
Award Amount
$562,500.00
Ceiling
$562,500.00
Awarded
July 10, 2026
Identifier
1R15HL181657-01A1
NIH funded project to repurpose FDA-approved drugs for pulmonary arterial hypertension and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis using a hybrid neuro-symbolic AI approach, including experimental validation and student training.
Description
This project aims to improve public health by repurposing FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), two life-threatening lung diseases with limited therapeutic options. The study integrates symbolic AI with traditional machine learning within a hybrid neuro-symbolic AI framework called RESPOND, combined with rigorous in vitro and in vivo validation. The goal is to enable data-driven identification and testing of promising drug candidates, providing undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on research training in computational biology and translational medicine.