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George Mason students fly into first place with no GPS, no grade, and (almost) no problems

tdonnel — Mon, 04 May 2026 18:53:10 +0000

George Mason students fly into first place with no GPS, no grade, and (almost) no problems tdonnel Mon, 05/04/2026 - 14:53

Driven by passion, persistence, and what they call “the love of the game,” a group of 91�� students affiliated with the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC) claimed first place at the 2026 Raytheon Autonomous Vehicle Competition at EagleBank Arena on April 24, 2026.

Meah Chambers and Gagan Manjunatha at the competition. Photo by Andani Munkaila/Office of University Branding

The competition challenged student teams to design and deploy autonomous aerial and ground vehicle systems capable of executing a series of increasingly complex missions. Unlike prior outdoor iterations, the 2026 competition eliminated access to GPS, forcing teams to rely on advanced onboard sensing and visual navigation techniques to orient themselves in space. EagleBank Arena has been hosting national robotics competitions since 2023 with support from an Office of Naval Research grant to transform the venue into a robotics experimentation and sporting venue.

George Mason’s autonomous robotics team rose to the challenge. Over the course of the competition, their system successfully completed all three mission objectives, earning the top overall score and securing first place. The win capped months of late nights and creative problem-solving by a team that was not competing for a grade, credit, or formal requirement, but purely out of enthusiasm for robotics.

“This isn’t even an official club yet,” said computer science major Gagan Manjunatha. “We’re here for the love of the game.”

For many teams at the competition, participation counts as a senior design project. George Mason’s team, however, had no such structure. “A lot of teams do use this as their senior design project, but the nice thing about us not doing it is that we have people that can come back year after year,” said team lead Meah Chambers, a junior majoring in electrical engineering.

Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

“I like the hands-on experience,” she said. This was Chambers’ third robotics team competition, each of which she found rewarding. “It’s like I’ve done three mini senior designs. I like the design team experience, working on a team for an end goal.”

The technical demands of the competition were steep. Challenge one required a drone to autonomously take off from a moving ground vehicle and land back on it. The second challenge layered on autonomous search and detection, requiring the drone to identify a visual tag, communicate its location, and guide the ground vehicle to the target. A third challenge added obstacle detection and avoidance for both aerial and ground systems.

To meet those demands, the team divided into drone and ground sub‑teams, with students specializing in software, hardware, mechanical design, and systems integration. Majors across electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science were represented. Visual‑inertial simultaneous localization and mapping (VSLAM) replaced GPS, allowing the drone to understand its position using cameras and onboard sensors.

“We were given the challenges in September and two semesters to plan and work on our system,” said electrical engineering major Emma Misevschi. Without senior design funding or course integration, students volunteered their time over the academic year to design, build, test, and refine their system. “Everything just happened to come together this week,” she said.

Some members of George Mason's 2026 Raytheon Autonomous Vehicle Competition team. Photo by Andani Munkaila/Creative Services/91��.

Funding constraints added another layer of difficulty. While funding for system components were provided by competition sponsor Raytheon, the money arrived late in the academic year, forcing the team to borrow equipment, lean on shared research lab resources, and compress months of testing into intense overnight sessions.

Despite many team members having stayed up testing into the wee hours of the night before the competition, spirits were high at the end of the first day of the two-day competition. Chambers joked, “Two hours is like a nice nap instead of sleeping for the night.”

Computer engineering major and ground team lead Logan Teyema added the (understandably tired) motto of hustle culture, “Water is life, food is fuel, and sleep is a crutch.”

In the end, their teamwork paid off. When the judges arrived, George Mason’s system performed cleanly and consistently, earning top marks across the challenges and finishing first overall.

The full team includes Luis Anchundia, James Daniel, Konraad Ludwig, Hassan Youssef, Emma Misevschi, Thomas Fletcher, Christopher Romero-Klevisha, Toan Do, Meah Chambers, Gagan Manjunatha, Connor Roberts, William Maynard, Logan Teyema, Ellie Kwon, Rico Rodriguez, Nick Kasa, and Yousif Alani. Faculty advisors include Cameron Nowzari, Xuesu Xiao, and Ningshi Yao.

Are you interested in joining the team? Learn more on the team’s website and watch a video about their experiences.

Learn about MARC

In This Story

Cameron Nowzari

Ningshi Yao

Xuesu Xiao

Topics

competitions

Electrical Engineering

Computer Engineering

computer science

Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center

robotics

91�� engineering professor awarded Office of Naval Research grant to launch 'NEXT' mechatronics workforce program

Martha Bushong — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:45:35 +0000

91�� engineering professor awarded Office of Naval Research grant to launch 'NEXT' mechatronics workforce program Martha Bushong Fri, 03/20/2026 - 08:45

91�� faculty member Ningshi Yao received a $750k grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to establish a hands-on mechatronics training program aimed at building the next generation of high-tech engineering technologists.

The three-year funding will support the creation of the Natural EXTension (NEXT) program. As emerging technologies like autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing continue to expand, the NEXT program will serve the national interest by providing students with rigorous, experiential learning opportunities directly aligned with defense and industry workforce needs.

Ningshi Yao. Photo provided.

"Traditional classroom learning is essential, but engineering is ultimately about building systems that work reliably in the real world," said Yao, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, director of the Control, Intelligent Autonomy, and Optimization Lab, and the sole principal investigator on the project. "With the NEXT program, we are implementing a 'flipped classroom' model. Students will review video lectures and technical instructions as their homework, allowing us to dedicate our entire class time to building and testing the mechatronic vehicles. This highly dynamic 'learning-by-doing' approach prepares students for the complex problem-solving required in today's high-tech workforce."

The program, which will welcome its pilot class in fall 2026, moves beyond standard laboratory exercises. A centerpiece of the NEXT curriculum is a high-stakes endurance mechatronics competition. Student teams will be challenged to design, build, and deploy autonomous mechatronic vehicles during a 72-hour rapid prototyping sprint, followed by a live, 90-minute competitive match on an outdoor field.

This intense environment forces participants to manage limited resources, modify hardware, program the systems on the fly, and ensure their systems can handle unpredictable real-world elements like uneven terrain and weather.

"We want to push students' engineering creativity and strategic thinking to the absolute limit," said Yao. "By bridging the gap between academic theory and rigorous physical deployment, we are ensuring our graduates are job-ready for defense and tech industry roles from day one."

George Mason is already known as one of the commonwealth's largest producers of tech talent. The NEXT program will further support the university’s efforts in building Virginia’s high-tech workforce by creating a regional talent pipeline.

"Relationships between universities and industry are common, but integrating direct, hands-on challenges that mirror the complexities of defense operations makes this initiative unique," Yao added.

This project is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research under award number N00014-26-1-2153.

In This Story

Ningshi Yao

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Topics

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Workforce Development

CEC faculty research

Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP)

Defense and Security

Navy veteran charts a new course with George Mason robotics

tdonnel — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:28:39 +0000

Navy veteran charts a new course with George Mason robotics tdonnel Mon, 03/09/2026 - 11:28

In This Story

Xuesu Xiao

As a scientist for the federal government, Naval Reservist David Eichinger’s path to a master’s degree in computer science at 91�� was less than traditional. A microbiology major turned technologist, Eichinger is now a graduate researcher in robotics. He represents the motivated, resilient students George Mason empowers, balancing academics with the demands of life beyond the classroom.

After noticing patterns in his work, Eichinger realized he needed computational tools to solve complex problems. Over the course of nine years—first in a post‑baccalaureate certificate, now in the master’s program—Eichinger built the foundation he needed.

David Eichinger. Photo provided.

“I chose the computer science program because I was interested in learning computer vision, machine learning, deep learning, and robotics to understand pattern recognition in data,” he said.

When he began exploring graduate programs, he sought proximity to his job and support for veterans in addition to an excellent program. That support system at George Mason has been critical as he balances graduate studies with military life, work, and family. It’s also one reason he believes George Mason is such a strong fit for veterans and nontraditional students like himself.

“George Mason’s [Computer Science Program] was just very flexible as far as the time of day they offer their classes,” he said, adding that classes can be either online or in person. Even more important to him was faculty access.

Today, Eichinger works in Xuesu Xiao’s robotics lab in Fuse at Mason Square, working on off-road mobility and social navigation robotics. The lab is lively, collaborative, and hands‑on. “It’s like a little makerspace to geek out on with different toys,” he said. “It is a joy to play with these robots and try to program them to move on their own.”

As a nontraditional student, Eichinger appreciates that George Mason creates space for varied pathways and goals. For veterans, career changers, and those returning to school later in life, his path demonstrates how George Mason’s computer science master’s program meets students where they are and takes them where they hope to go.

“It is not a walk in the park,” he said, “but it is worth doing if you believe in it."

Topics

computer science

George Mason team wins Virginia Cyber Cup Competition at Commonwealth Cyber Fusion event

tdonnel — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:25:26 +0000

George Mason team wins Virginia Cyber Cup Competition at Commonwealth Cyber Fusion event tdonnel Fri, 02/27/2026 - 10:25

In This Story

Matthew Jablonski

A team of 91�� students brought home the first-place trophy from the 9th Annual Commonwealth Cyber Fusion and Virginia Cyber Cup Competition, held February 20-21 at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia. The statewide, invitation‑only event brought together top cyber programs from institutions designated as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense for two days of competition, professional development, and networking. More than 150 students from 19 Virginia colleges and universities participated.

Mason Competitive Cyber (MCC) team secured first place in the university division, edging out top competitors from the University of Virginia and the College of William & Mary. Their win came down to the final minutes of a four‑hour Jeopardy‑style capture-the-flag (CTF) competition, for which students solved a series of complex cybersecurity challenges across multiple categories. The winning team included undergraduates Amaan Abbas, Dylan Charnick, Kyson Fromm, Noah Hinger, Neil Sharma (cyber security engineering (CYSE) majors) and Cristian Puerto (information technology major).

91�� team poses with trophy. Photo provided.

For Dylan Charnick, MCC’s vice president and the team’s student liaison with Cyber Fusion organizers, this year’s competition carried a different weight. “Last year I was one of the new players, and I felt like my main responsibility was to learn as much as I could," he said. "This year I was the team leader, which meant I had to guide a lot of new players into their roles. I had a blast working with my teammates, and I feel like we all worked hard to secure the win. We definitely learned a ton, and we’re ready to come back next year!”

Teammate Cristian Puerto agreed. “This was my first time at this event, along with most others on my team, so we came into it willing to learn and to try our best. Our team's balanced skill sets throughout all the categories allowed us to get through almost all the challenges except for a couple. One of my highlights from this weekend was not only winning the competition but having the opportunity to put myself in an environment where everyone shares the same passion for cybersecurity and having conversations with anyone at any experience-level.”

Hosted by VMI’s Center for Leadership and Ethics and co‑sponsored by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) and the Virginia Cyber Range (VACR), the event featured a job fair and industry speakers in addition to the CTF competition. Attending the event with the students was Peggy Brouse, a member of the VACR Executive Board and associate chair in CYSE, and Matthew Jablonski, faculty sponsor for MCC and CYSE assistant professor.

The weekend’s competition extended beyond the CTF. On Friday, the event kicked off with Tech Duels, a team debate challenge in which students were paired across institutions to argue a topic selected by the organizers. For his debate, Neil Sharma, representing George Mason, was partnered with a student from Liberty University to form “Team AI” and tackle the prompt: “AI vs. Zero Trust—What is the best way to protect the nation’s infrastructure?” The duo won their opening debate, which was the first competitive event of the weekend.

Jablonski poses with trophy. Photo provided.

“The Tech Duels debate was a lot of fun. I enjoyed working with someone I didn’t know prior to the event,” said Sharma. “Due to my teammate’s prior experience with Tech Duels and our coordination beforehand, we were able to put forth a convincing argument and win the debate. Unlike the CTF component of the competition, I had no prior experience, so it was exciting to try something new.”

Jablonski said, “This was my first time attending Cyber Fusion, I was incredibly impressed with the way CCI and the Virginia Cyber Range organized this event. Our students were challenged, they competed hard, and they were respectful of their peers from other universities throughout the entire weekend. The CYSE Department couldn’t be more proud of MCC and our students for bringing home the Virginia Cyber Cup.”

With support from partners like CCI and faculty mentors across the College of Engineering and Computing, MCC students continue to demonstrate excellence in Virginia's growing cybersecurity ecosystem.

Topics

Cybersecurity

information sciences and technology

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI)

Mason Competitive Cyber

HackFax x PatriotHacks 2026 entered the Major League with a 72-hour Valentine’s weekend event

tdonnel — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:29:12 +0000

HackFax x PatriotHacks 2026 entered the Major League with a 72-hour Valentine’s weekend event tdonnel Mon, 02/23/2026 - 12:29

Over Valentine’s Day weekend, two of 91��’s tech communities joined forces to host HackFax x PatriotHacks 2026, a collaborative hackathon and capture-the-flag (CTF) competition. Event organizers leaned into the holiday theme, joking that “we fell in love at first sight and became one!” The result was a joint event that brought together more than 500 students from more than 30 colleges and universities for hacking, learning, and community.

Photo by Andani Munkaila/Office of University Branding

In addition to the CTF competition, the three‑day, 72-hour event featured workshops, panels, and networking opportunities with sponsors such as EY, AWS, Microsoft, Peraton, and Red Bull.

And this was the first gathering since PatriotHacks went Major League. PatriotHacks is now designated as a Major League Hacking (MLH) event. MLH, the official student hackathon league supporting collegiate hackathons in the United States, helps empower students to promote innovation, form communities, and teach technical skills.

For some participants, the appeal of the Valentine’s weekend event was the chance to build and learn freely while having fun.

Anuridhi Gupta, an information sciences and technology (IT) major described the CTF challenge as “kind of like a treasure hunt.” She said she valued the industry exposure and took the opportunity to speak with representatives from Amazon and Microsoft.

Aryan Patel emphasized the creative freedom that hackathons offer, saying, “You can make what you want and learn the skills that you’re interested in.”

Senior IT major Alexa Mayer was motivated to attend the hackathon because of the panel on women working in STEM hosted by Microsoft on Saturday. The panel’s emphasis on soft skills and growth mindset broadened her understanding of what success in cybersecurity requires, she said.

Sophomore management and information systems major in the Costello College of Business Lara Miran said hearing of panelists’ journeys helped her imagine new futures for herself in roles such as product or project management.

Cyber security engineering student Marcos Daleney highlighted the career benefits of participating in a hackathon. “It’s a great resume builder,” he said.

By merging two student‑run hackathon communities into one high‑energy, holiday‑themed event, HackFax x PatriotHacks 2026 delivered more than just code and competition. It fostered meaningful connections between students and sponsors.

More from the College of Engineering and Computing

Topics

Hackathon

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

student organizations

George Mason digital forensics expert clarifies Guthrie footage recovery

tdonnel — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 20:07:41 +0000

George Mason digital forensics expert clarifies Guthrie footage recovery tdonnel Mon, 02/16/2026 - 15:07

In This Story

Jim Jones

In a series of national news reports, Jim Jones, the director of 91��'s digital forensics program, explained to the public how investigators may have recovered previously inaccessible home‑security footage related to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

Jim Jones. Photo provided.

"Our world is awash in digital data," said Jones. "The challenge in investigations like this is to collect all that data, process it, then find the needles in the haystacks that are relevant, connected, and can help solve the case."

Jones appeared as a digital forensics expert in an ABC News video segment, where he and Mary Ellen O’Toole, the director of George Mason’s forensic science program, analyzed the recovered footage and discussed how investigators interpret digital artifacts in complex cases. Their commentary helped contextualize how fragments of data, even when corrupted, incomplete, or seemingly lost, can still become vital evidence in high‑stakes investigations.

Jones’ insights also appear prominently in NPR and VPM reports explaining how the FBI managed to retrieve Google Nest doorbell camera footage despite early claims that the device had been disconnected, tampered with, or lacking a paid storage subscription. He explained that physically removing or unplugging a camera does not erase already‑captured footage, noting that earlier recordings may actually be safer from being overwritten once the device stops recording. “Whatever had been recorded up to that point is actually a little bit safer because it's not going to be overwritten by more recording,” he said.

Jones also clarified misconceptions about subscription‑based video retention. While Google is not obligated to store footage for non‑subscribers, data is often still transmitted to the cloud and may persist in backend systems long enough for forensic recovery.

In a separate CBS Chicago report, Jones also explained how investigators are deploying a helicopter‑mounted “signal sniffer” to search for faint, irregular transmissions from Guthrie’s pacemaker, noting that while its range is extremely limited and lacks any clear identifier, it remains a tool worth trying as authorities exhaust every technological option in the search

Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in cybersecurity and digital forensics, Jones is regularly featured in media segments breaking down high-profile cases and forensic methodologies, and he speaks at conferences and contributes to public discussions about how digital footprints are used in modern investigations. His scholarship and public engagement make him one of the most trusted voices in forensic science education in the country.

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George Mason is launching a Space Forward Frontiers Seminar with Northrop Grumman

Domonique Hopkins — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:45:36 +0000

George Mason is launching a Space Forward Frontiers Seminar with Northrop Grumman Domonique Hopkins Mon, 01/26/2026 - 10:45

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91��’s College of Science is launching the Space Forward Frontiers Seminar Series in spring 2026, in partnership with Northrop Grumman and George Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing.

The one-credit, in-person seminar (PHYS 391/590, cross-listed as ME 500) is open to undergraduate and graduate students of all majors interested in the space industry.

Limited to 50 students, the Thursday afternoon seminar features weekly lectures from George Mason faculty and industry professionals, offering practical and academic perspectives on today’s space sector. Topics include the space industry’s foundations, enabling technologies, policy considerations, and future directions, with the inaugural offering focusing on crowding and events in the space environment.

With no prerequisites or textbooks, the course is highly accessible and connects students to such emerging opportunities as NASA’s Landolt Mission, led by George Mason faculty. The seminar also supports the university’s Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI), advancing both 21st-century education and pioneering space exploration through industry collaboration.

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Aerospace

Space

College of Science

mechanical engineering

innovative classes

George Mason team earns $2.1M to study seizure dynamics

tdonnel — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 15:06:52 +0000

George Mason team earns $2.1M to study seizure dynamics tdonnel Tue, 01/13/2026 - 10:06

In This Story

John Cressman

Parag Chitnis

Remi Veneziano

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a 91�� research team $2.1 million to create a system that could revolutionize the study of seizures.

The project combines the expertise of Parag Chitnis and Remi Veneziano (Department of Bioengineering), and Rob Cressman (Department of Physics and Astronomy) to develop an imaging and sensing system for identifying areas of the brain with potassium ion dysregulation.

“Potassium is one of those ions that actually inhibits activation of cells. If there's a dysfunction in those ions, you get runaway signaling. A seizure is an example of that,” said Cressman, who has studied epilepsy since his postdoctoral work. “We’re trying to develop tools that help us understand that better.”

From left, Parag Chitnis, Rob Cressman, and Remi Veneziano. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding.

When the biocompatible nanosensors, made of DNA and light-sensitive dye, encounter a local change in potassium concentration, they change their shape resulting in a change in their near-infrared fluorescence signal.

“We want to detect even very small changes in potassium,” said Veneziano, whose work involves synthesizing new nanomaterials from DNA particles, proteins, and lipids. “The system we’ve built is modular, versatile, and highly sensitive.”

These signals can be mapped in real-time using a near-infrared imaging device to understand dynamic changes in ion concentration.

One of the most promising applications is image-guided surgical intervention for epilepsy. By pinpointing seizure foci through potassium mapping, surgeons may be able to perform precise tissue ablation, removing only the affected areas.

“If you can identify the focus and remove that part of the tissue, you can sometimes stop the seizures,” said Cressman.

The four-year NIH-funded project, previously funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), builds on years of research supported by George Mason’s Center for MedTech Innovation.

“This grant allows us to translate our NSF-funded feasibility work into real-world applications,” said Chitnis, who studies brain-body interactions using light and ultrasound. “We’re not just studying disease—we’re building tools that could guide future interventions.”

The toolkit will be tested across multiple platforms—from cell cultures to brain slices to intact mammalian models—allowing researchers to study bioelectrical activity at various scales.

The team also sees potential for assessing functional recovery after traumatic brain injury. Scar tissue can disrupt potassium regulation, and the nanosensors may help identify regions at risk of developing seizure foci. As the research progresses, the team hopes to open new pathways for understanding and treating complex brain disorders.

Topics

Bioengineering

College of Science

National Science Foundation

National Institutes of Health

Groundbreaking study reveals hidden complexity in human genetics

tdonnel — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:32:03 +0000

Groundbreaking study reveals hidden complexity in human genetics tdonnel Mon, 01/12/2026 - 13:32

In This Story

Amarda Shehu

Sometimes, in genetics, two wrongs do make a right. A research team recently showed that two harmful genetic variants, when occurring together in a gene, can restore function—proving a decades-old hypothesis originally proposed by Nobel laureate Francis Crick. Their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), not only experimentally validated this theory but also introduced a powerful artificial intelligence (AI)-driven approach to genetic interpretation led by 91�� researchers.

The project began when Aimée Dudley, a geneticist at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI), approached 91�� Chief AI Officer Amarda Shehu after following her lab’s work on frontier AI models for predicting the functional impact of genetic variation. That conversation sparked a collaboration that married PNRI’s experimental expertise with George Mason’s computational innovation to discover some surprising ways variant combinations can shape human health.

The problem

Every year one in three Americans is diagnosed with a genetic disorder. Symptoms manifest in infancy for about 70% of individuals. Sadly, 35% die before the age of 5. Advancements in clinical genomics offer hope to better understand and possibly treat these disorders.

“High-throughput genomic screening has been a wonderful feat for humanity,” said Shehu, “but one of its side effects is that it has produced massive amounts of data, outpacing our ability to interpret what that data means for health and disease.”

Research in the Shehu lab has for years focused on building frontier AI models to advance genetic interpretation, but all data available link only isolated, single variants to measured functional activity. Because each person's genome contains billions of base pairs, with about five million variants existing between two individuals’ genomes, looking at one variant at a time rather than combinations of variants could only reveal so much.

“It looked like we had hit a wall,” Shehu said, “that is, until Dr. Dudley contacted my lab more than a year ago.”

On the left, a 3D landscape derived from variant–variant measurements shows distinct functional regions emerging from pairwise interactions. On the right, these regions map onto a multimeric protein structure, where variants in separate spatial zones can be sequestered into different active sites, allowing functional recovery. This visualization captures the structural logic underlying positive epistasis and illustrates how AI-enabled analysis links genetic variation to protein function, a key, groundbreaking result Dudley and Shehu's labs published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Image provided.

The proof

Dudley’s lab was convinced that the key was to account for variant combinations in a gene, also called epistasis. They measured functional effects of variant combinations in the DNA of a key enzyme, argininosuccinate lyase (ASL), a lack of which results in urea cycle disorder, a rare but devastating condition.

The researchers tested thousands of variant combinations that resulted in no enzyme activity when on their own and found that a significant portion of them had high levels of enzyme activity when in combination with each other. In other words, two defective variants, when combined, can recover function.

“This was the most puzzling thing that I could not believe when Dr. Dudley showed it to me. Sometimes in biology, zero plus zero equals 100%,” said Shehu.

Shehu said that Crick, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962 with James Dewey Watson and Maurice Wilkins for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of DNA, had hypothesized this could happen.

“Crick had a fancy word for it—variant sequestration,” said Shehu, “But until Dr. Dudley, no one had demonstrated it.”

The progress

Once Dudley’s lab confirmed the phenomenon experimentally, George Mason researchers turned to AI to see if it could predict similar effects across other genes. Using the ASL data from Dudley’s lab, George Mason computer science PhD student Anowarul Kabir developed a machine learning model to predict the effects of variant combinations. Then, he applied the model to a structurally similar but evolutionarily distinct protein, fumarase (FH). The algorithm achieved 99.6 percent accuracy in predicting regained function within ASL and 91 percent accuracy in FH.

“The really cool thing about this,” said Shehu, “is that the model learned both sequence and structural patterns and was able to transfer its knowledge to another gene.”

This breakthrough suggests that with experimental data from a few genes, AI can help scale variant effect prediction to a broad set of genes. The PNAS publication estimates that as many as 4% of the genes in the human genome could have the same types of effects seen for ASL and FH.

The paradigm shift

This breakthrough marks a paradigm shift in clinical genomics for precision medicine. By considering variant combinations rather than isolated, single variants, clinicians can deliver faster, more accurate diagnoses and life-saving interventions for families facing rare diseases. They can also prioritize therapeutic treatments based on specific epistatic profiles of patients or clinical trial participants.

“Clinical genomics has been stuck in a rut for decades. We’ve shown that you need to look at combinations of variants to fully understand their impact,” said Shehu. “Our AI model expands coverage from one gene to another, accelerating interpretation and bringing us closer to true precision medicine.”

Topics

DNA

Machine Learning

Machine Learning in Health Care