Curated by THEOUTPOST
On Wed, 19 Mar, 12:08 AM UTC
3 Sources
[1]
New artificial intelligence tool accelerates disease treatments
University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have created a computational tool to accelerate the development of new disease treatments. The tool goes beyond current artificial intelligence (AI) approaches by identifying not just which patient populations may benefit but also how the drugs work inside cells. The researchers have demonstrated the tool's potential by identifying a promising candidate to prevent heart failure, a leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. The new AI tool called LogiRx, can predict how drugs will affect biological processes in the body, helping scientists understand the effects the drugs will have other than their original purpose. For example, the researchers found that the antidepressant escitalopram, sold as Lexapro, may prevent harmful changes in the heart that lead to heart failure, a condition that causes almost half of all cardiovascular deaths in the United States. "AI needs to move from detecting patterns to generating understanding," said UVA's Jeffrey J. Saucerman. PhD. "Our LogiRx tool helps us identify not just which drugs can be repurposed for heart disease but how they work in the heart." Preventing Heart Failure Heart failure kills more than 400,000 Americans every year. One of its hallmarks is the overgrowth of cells that thicken the heart muscle and prevent the organ from pumping blood as it should. This is known as cardiac hypertrophy. Saucerman and his team, led by PhD student Taylor Eggertsen, wanted to see if LogiRx could identify drugs with the potential to prevent cardiac hypertrophy and, ultimately, head off heart failure. They used the tool to evaluate 62 drugs that had been previously identified as promising candidates for the task. LogiRx was able to predict "off-target" effects for seven of these drugs that could help prevent harmful cellular hypertrophy, which were confirmed in cells for two of the drugs. The scientists then evaluated LogiRx's predictions by doing lab tests and by looking at outcomes in patients taking the drugs. The latter revealed that patients taking escitalopram were significantly less likely to develop cardiac hypertrophy. "LogiRx identifies unexpected new uses for old drugs that are already shown to be safe in humans," said Eggertsen, in UVA's Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of the School of Medicine and School of Engineering. "This tool can help researchers explore new patient populations that could benefit from a drug or to avoid unwanted side effects." Additional lab research and clinical trials will be needed before doctors might start prescribing escitalopram for heart health. But Saucerman is excited about the potential of LogiRx for advancing and accelerating new treatments not just for cardiac hypertrophy but for a host of other serious medical conditions. "AI is accelerating many aspects of drug development, but it has made less progress in providing the required understanding of how these drug work in the body," Saucerman said. "LogiRx is a step towards combining AI with existing knowledge of how cells work to find new uses for old drugs."
[2]
UVA scientists develop AI tool to accelerate the development of new disease treatments
University of Virginia Health SystemMar 18 2025 University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have created a computational tool to accelerate the development of new disease treatments. The tool goes beyond current artificial intelligence (AI) approaches by identifying not just which patient populations may benefit but also how the drugs work inside cells. The researchers have demonstrated the tool's potential by identifying a promising candidate to prevent heart failure, a leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. The new AI tool called LogiRx, can predict how drugs will affect biological processes in the body, helping scientists understand the effects the drugs will have other than their original purpose. For example, the researchers found that the antidepressant escitalopram, sold as Lexapro, may prevent harmful changes in the heart that lead to heart failure, a condition that causes almost half of all cardiovascular deaths in the United States. AI needs to move from detecting patterns to generating understanding. Our LogiRx tool helps us identify not just which drugs can be repurposed for heart disease but how they work in the heart." Jeffrey J. Saucerman. PhD, UVA Preventing heart failure Heart failure kills more than 400,000 Americans every year. One of its hallmarks is the overgrowth of cells that thicken the heart muscle and prevent the organ from pumping blood as it should. This is known as cardiac hypertrophy. Saucerman and his team, led by PhD student Taylor Eggertsen, wanted to see if LogiRx could identify drugs with the potential to prevent cardiac hypertrophy and, ultimately, head off heart failure. They used the tool to evaluate 62 drugs that had been previously identified as promising candidates for the task. LogiRx was able to predict "off-target" effects for seven of these drugs that could help prevent harmful cellular hypertrophy, which were confirmed in cells for two of the drugs. The scientists then evaluated LogiRx's predictions by doing lab tests and by looking at outcomes in patients taking the drugs. The latter revealed that patients taking escitalopram were significantly less likely to develop cardiac hypertrophy. "LogiRx identifies unexpected new uses for old drugs that are already shown to be safe in humans," said Eggertsen, in UVA's Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of the School of Medicine and School of Engineering. "This tool can help researchers explore new patient populations that could benefit from a drug or to avoid unwanted side effects." Additional lab research and clinical trials will be needed before doctors might start prescribing escitalopram for heart health. But Saucerman is excited about the potential of LogiRx for advancing and accelerating new treatments not just for cardiac hypertrophy but for a host of other serious medical conditions. "AI is accelerating many aspects of drug development, but it has made less progress in providing the required understanding of how these drug work in the body," Saucerman said. "LogiRx is a step towards combining AI with existing knowledge of how cells work to find new uses for old drugs." Findings published The researchers have published their findings in PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research team consisted of Eggertsen, Joshua G. Travers, Elizabeth J. Hardy, Matthew J. Wolf, Timothy A. McKinsey and Saucerman. The scientists have no financial interest in the work. Source: University of Virginia Health System Journal reference: Eggertsen, T. G., et al. (2025). Logic-based machine learning predicts how escitalopram attenuates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2420499122.
[3]
AI tool predicts how body will respond to drugs, potentially accelerating disease treatments
University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have created a computational tool to accelerate the development of new disease treatments. The tool goes beyond current artificial intelligence (AI) approaches by identifying not just which patient populations may benefit but also how the drugs work inside cells. The researchers have demonstrated the tool's potential by identifying a promising candidate to prevent heart failure, a leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The new AI tool called LogiRx, can predict how drugs will affect biological processes in the body, helping scientists understand the effects the drugs will have other than their original purpose. For example, the researchers found that the antidepressant escitalopram, sold as Lexapro, may prevent harmful changes in the heart that lead to heart failure, a condition that causes almost half of all cardiovascular deaths in the United States. "AI needs to move from detecting patterns to generating understanding," said UVA's Jeffrey J. Saucerman. Ph.D. "Our LogiRx tool helps us identify not just which drugs can be repurposed for heart disease but how they work in the heart." Preventing heart failure Heart failure kills more than 400,000 Americans every year. One of its hallmarks is the overgrowth of cells that thicken the heart muscle and prevent the organ from pumping blood as it should. This is known as cardiac hypertrophy. Saucerman and his team, led by Ph.D. student Taylor Eggertsen, wanted to see if LogiRx could identify drugs with the potential to prevent cardiac hypertrophy and, ultimately, head off heart failure. They used the tool to evaluate 62 drugs that had been previously identified as promising candidates for the task. LogiRx was able to predict "off-target" effects for seven of these drugs that could help prevent harmful cellular hypertrophy, which were confirmed in cells for two of the drugs. The scientists then evaluated LogiRx's predictions by doing lab tests and by looking at outcomes in patients taking the drugs. The latter revealed that patients taking escitalopram were significantly less likely to develop cardiac hypertrophy. "LogiRx identifies unexpected new uses for old drugs that are already shown to be safe in humans," said Eggertsen, in UVA's Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of the School of Medicine and School of Engineering. "This tool can help researchers explore new patient populations that could benefit from a drug or to avoid unwanted side effects." Additional lab research and clinical trials will be needed before doctors might start prescribing escitalopram for heart health. But Saucerman is excited about the potential of LogiRx for advancing and accelerating new treatments not just for cardiac hypertrophy but for a host of other serious medical conditions. "AI is accelerating many aspects of drug development, but it has made less progress in providing the required understanding of how these drug work in the body," Saucerman said. "LogiRx is a step towards combining AI with existing knowledge of how cells work to find new uses for old drugs." The research team consisted of Eggertsen, Joshua G. Travers, Elizabeth J. Hardy, Matthew J. Wolf, Timothy A. McKinsey and Saucerman. The scientists have no financial interest in the work.
Share
Share
Copy Link
University of Virginia researchers develop an AI tool called LogiRx that predicts drug effects on biological processes, potentially revolutionizing treatment development for conditions like heart failure.
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have developed a groundbreaking artificial intelligence tool named LogiRx, which promises to accelerate the development of new disease treatments. This computational tool goes beyond traditional AI approaches by not only identifying potential patient populations that could benefit from certain drugs but also elucidating how these drugs work at the cellular level 123.
LogiRx represents a significant advancement in the field of AI-assisted drug development. Dr. Jeffrey J. Saucerman, a key researcher in the project, emphasizes the importance of this tool: "AI needs to move from detecting patterns to generating understanding. Our LogiRx tool helps us identify not just which drugs can be repurposed for heart disease but how they work in the heart" 1.
The tool's ability to predict how drugs affect biological processes in the body allows scientists to understand potential effects beyond the drug's original purpose. This capability is crucial for drug repurposing, a strategy that can significantly reduce the time and cost associated with bringing new treatments to market 2.
To demonstrate LogiRx's potential, the research team, led by PhD student Taylor Eggertsen, focused on identifying drugs that could prevent cardiac hypertrophy, a condition that often leads to heart failure. The tool evaluated 62 previously identified promising drug candidates 123.
Key findings include:
The discovery of escitalopram's potential in preventing heart failure is particularly significant, given that heart failure is responsible for nearly half of all cardiovascular deaths in the United States 1. However, Eggertsen cautions that additional research and clinical trials are necessary before escitalopram can be prescribed for heart health 2.
LogiRx's potential extends beyond cardiac health. Saucerman envisions the tool accelerating treatment development for various serious medical conditions. He states, "LogiRx is a step towards combining AI with existing knowledge of how cells work to find new uses for old drugs" 3.
The research team's findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underlining the scientific community's recognition of this breakthrough 2. As AI continues to transform drug development, tools like LogiRx that provide deeper insights into drug mechanisms represent a crucial step forward in the field of medical research and treatment development.
Reference
[1]
[2]
[3]
Medical Xpress - Medical and Health News
|AI tool predicts how body will respond to drugs, potentially accelerating disease treatmentsResearchers have developed a new AI tool that revolutionizes drug discovery for rare diseases. This innovative approach repurposes existing medications, potentially accelerating treatment options for millions of patients worldwide.
5 Sources
5 Sources
An AI-powered machine learning tool has successfully identified a life-saving treatment for a patient with idiopathic multicentric Castleman's disease (iMCD), a rare and often fatal condition. This breakthrough showcases the potential of AI in drug repurposing and rare disease treatment.
4 Sources
4 Sources
Researchers at SMU have developed SmartCADD, an open-source tool that combines AI, quantum mechanics, and computer-assisted drug design to significantly speed up the drug discovery process.
4 Sources
4 Sources
Researchers from MIT and Harvard Medical School have developed CHAIS, an AI model that analyzes ECG data to predict heart failure risk, potentially replacing invasive procedures with comparable accuracy.
2 Sources
2 Sources
A new AI model called AIRE, which analyzes ECG results to predict heart disease and mortality risks, is set to be trialed in NHS hospitals. The technology aims to detect subtle heart issues that human doctors might miss.
4 Sources
4 Sources
The Outpost is a comprehensive collection of curated artificial intelligence software tools that cater to the needs of small business owners, bloggers, artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, marketers, writers, and researchers.
© 2025 TheOutpost.AI All rights reserved