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24 Central MA Life Sciences Report architectural framework," said Schwartz Sterman. The question to answer now, she said, is how to pick which gene matters. That's where artificial intelligence and machine learning come into play. "It is going to transform how we do drug discovery," said Schwartz Sterman. The technology can look at up to 18,000 genes at a time, she said. In the past, researchers could only look at one. This rapid-fire analysis offers a new lens to understanding disease, said Schwartz Sterman. The opportunities for researchers made possible with artificial intelligence are nearly limitless. Though relatively new in day-to-day conversations, AI technology has been part of research for more than two decades, said Dmitry Korkin, a Worcester Polytechnic Institute professor of computer science. "There is now a new avalanche of extremely powerful methods," said Korkin. Korkin most recently led a team of researchers at WPI and Harvard Medical School-affiliated McLean Hospital on a study to determine if specific utilization of AI technology could better predict suicidality than the traditional hundred- question questionnaire clinicians have used until now. The study involved developing an algorithm to identify patients at greatest risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among the subset group of women suffering from certain trauma-related disorders. The three-year-long project was a success, said Korkin. The technology was better able to predict suicidal ideation than the survey and narrowed down the questionaire to the most critical questions. The algorithm was correct 90% of the time, said Korkin. The goal now is to bridge the gap between 90% and 100% and merge the clinical and imaging data together with the algorithmic function. "We want to have dead-on diagnostics," Korkin said. The future of AI research for Korkin's team and elsewhere is promising, but with it comes a host of questions that scientists will have to grapple with in the coming years. "We have moral and ethical questions we have not faced before. This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Korkin. Dmitry Korkin, professor of computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute LS Continued from page 23 P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F U M A S S C H A N M E D I C A L S C H O O L The gene therapy research lab at UMass Chan Medical School helps lead discovery of treatments for diseases like ALS.