Predicting microbial virulence from genome sequences with language models
Official title: Predicting Microbial Pathogenicity using Genome Language Models
Funded at University of Hawaii at Manoa · NIH-11610145 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A research project aims to use advanced AI models trained on genetic sequences to predict how dangerous different microbes might be, helping doctors and public health teams respond more quickly.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Hawaii at Manoa NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Honolulu, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2026 |
| Project end | July 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $176,229 |
| NIH project number | 5P20GM125508-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11610145 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients or populations affected by infectious diseases could benefit from faster, more accurate risk assessment and targeted public health actions.
✕Less likely to help
Persons not exposed to infectious disease risk or in situations where genomic data is not applicable may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project will build genome language model embeddings from microbial DNA sequences and train supervised models to predict virulence. It will compare embedding-based predictions to traditional methods, checking how well results generalize across species and strains. The team will map important embedding features back to genomic regions to identify virulence-related loci and regulatory elements. The work will involve curating genome datasets with virulence data and validating the approach on diverse microbes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could improve early identification of highly virulent strains, informing surveillance and response strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Genome-language models have shown promise in interpreting sequence data, but applying them to organism- and strain-level virulence is still exploratory and building on emerging results.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Roell, Garrett W. — University of Hawaii at Manoa
- Study coordinator: Roell, Garrett W.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.