Dr. Albert Lai, along with co-leaders Dr. Randall Bateman, and Dr. Yixin Chen, has been awarded a Transcend Initiative Grant under the Digital Transformation focus area of WashU’s Here and Next Seed Grant Program. Their project titled, “AI Assistant for Biomedical Research” aims to leverage artificial intelligence to advance biomedical research at WashU and beyond.
The Here and Next Seed Grant Program, managed by the Research Development Office under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, supports and catalyzes interdisciplinary and novel research initiatives at WashU. By fostering collaboration across the WashU Medicine and Danforth campus school, the program addresses critical areas such as public health, global health, environmental research, digital transformation, and local community impact.
These seed grants provide essential funding to help researchers develop competitive proposals for larger, external funding opportunities, thereby enhancing the university’s research excellence and innovation.