St. John’s AI Lab Awarded Grant to Study Drug Repurposing

An artificial intelligence (AI) research lab housed in The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies at St. John’s University has been awarded more than $500,000 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance an effort focused on drug repurposing.

The Bukhari Lab at St. John’s University, led by Syed Ahmad Chan Bukhari, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Division of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Science, at the Collins College of Professional Studies, will receive $562,000 over three years to study how AI can help researchers identify existing medicines that might have new applications for those with serious respiratory diseases.

The initiative, called RESPOND: Repurposing Drugs for Respiratory Disorders Using a Hybrid Neuro-Symbolic AI Approach, will combine machine learning with biomedical knowledge to help researchers examine relationships among drugs, diseases, genes, biological pathways, and other forms of evidence. The project will also examine how AI systems can provide transparent and scientifically significant evidence for why a particular medicine might be relevant to a disease.

“Biomedical researchers need more than a prediction,” Dr. Bukhari said. “They need to understand the evidence behind that prediction, how different pieces of scientific knowledge are connected, and why a particular candidate should be examined more closely. Trust, transparency, and scientific reasoning are central to the RESPOND project.”

According to Dr. Bukhari, developing an entirely new medicine can require years of laboratory research, clinical testing, regulatory review, and substantial financial investment. Alternatively, drug repurposing examines whether medicines that have already been developed and approved for one condition might be useful for treating another.

A class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, for example, was initially developed for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Researchers later found that several of these medicines could produce weight loss, leading to their use as treatments for obesity and related conditions.

AI can serve as a support tool in similar research, helping to narrow an extremely large pharmaceutical search space into a focused set of drug candidates that researchers can then evaluate.

“This NIH-supported initiative demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary research in addressing complex health-care challenges,” said Luca Iandoli, Ph.D., Dean, Collins College of Professional Studies and Professor, Division of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Science. “The work of Dr. Bukhari and the Bukhari Lab reflects St. John’s commitment to innovative research that combines artificial intelligence, biomedical science, and service to society.”

The NIH grant will be distributed annually from July 2026 to June 2029, Dr. Bukhari said. During that time, his team of machine-learning engineers and St. John’s undergraduate and graduate students from Computer Science, Pharmacy, and related health disciplines will contribute to AI model development, biomedical data analysis, computational drug discovery, validation studies with collaborators, and scientific communication. 

“Students will receive firsthand experience at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computer science, pharmacy, and biomedical research, while contributing directly to an NIH-funded effort,” Dr. Bukhari said. 

The RESPOND project is part of the Bukhari Lab’s broader effort to develop artificial intelligence systems for health care and biomedical research. The lab works across AI, machine learning, health informatics, and biomedical research to prioritize AI systems that are accurate, auditable, explainable, and grounded in reliable scientific evidence—all of which are essential in medical research.

In 2024, the lab received a $550,000 grant from the US National Science Foundation to develop an AI solution for the time-consuming process of medical coding and health care billing.

The recent NIH award highlights the importance of collaboration among computer science, biomedical research, health informatics, and translational medicine, Dr. Bukhari said. AI can help scientists navigate biomedical knowledge and identify treatment opportunities that might otherwise remain undiscovered.

It also reflects the increasing role of data technology in helping researchers address difficult health challenges, Dr. Bukhari said.

“The value of artificial intelligence is not simply that it can process more information,” Dr. Bukhari said. “Its real value comes from helping scientists ask better questions, connect evidence more effectively, and make more informed research decisions. We hope RESPOND will contribute to a faster, more transparent, and more thoughtful approach to discovering new treatment possibilities.”