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V O L . X X X N O. V M A R C H 4 , 2 0 2 4 22 L I F E S C I E N C E S / B I O T E C H F O C U S Sawyer. "We think of the HEART proj- ect as the first of many," he adds. Monitoring revolution In Bar Harbor, Jackson Laboratory uses mice as a proxy for the study of human disease and drug development. Vivek Kumar, an associate professor, leads a lab that combines the fields of genetics, neuroscience and computer sci- ence in order to develop better ways to understand observable outward traits in mice as they relate to their brain activity and genetic architecture. "e animal can't tell you how it's feeling," says Kumar. "So, science derives the emotional or cognitive state of the animal through a series of tests. We ask the animals to do certain tasks and we monitor their natural behaviors. We then link these behaviors to altered neu- ral circuits and altered genetics." He cautions that "observing com- plex behaviors in animals is hard and traditionally humans have been the best behavior. is naturally limits scalability and reproducibility. " Kumar is working to revolutionize that monitoring. "Instead of humans watching the animals, we have video cameras watch- ing and we use machine learning, computer vision and AI methods to automate that task," he says. e technology records everything the animal does over long periods of time. at information is used to under- stand the animal's neural function and the genetic changes that are happening. For example, mice models are often used for the study of autism spectrum disorders. rough long-term monitor- ing and analysis of the data collected in these models, Kumar's lab discovered changes in their fine motor movements — things like gait and postural deficits. "Cognitive changes in these mod- els, such as communication and social deficits, are challenging to measure at scale," he says. "But the manifestation of physical movement changes provides a tool for what's happening in brain activity and at the genetic level. It is also high-throughput and makes it possible to test the efficacy of candidate drug treatments." Ultimately, he says, the mouse can be used as a tool to discover better treat- ment through these AI approaches. e project uses camera set-ups, with infrared illumination at night, to record mice interacting. e collected data is used to develop algorithms that go through every frame — and bil- lions of data points from every part of each animal — to detect things like gait and posture, and things like how much an individual animal wobbles and the length of its stride. Patterns in the data help researchers understand more-com- plex internal cognitive states. e majority of the work initially was funded within JAX and continues through agencies within the National Institutes of Health and the Simons Foundation, a private foundation that funds autism research. e project is still in the realm of basic research. Ultimately, the goal is to translate the findings into treatments. As an educator, Kumar also uses his lab to train pre- and post-doctoral stu- dents in machine learning and computer vision. "We trained ourselves to do a lot of this work," he says of his generation of researchers. "Now we have a good group of computation people at JAX. I feel like we're helping in that education mission." Ambient listening In January 2023, MaineHealth launched a pilot program using AI-enabled "ambient listening" technology that I N T E R S TAT E C E L E B R AT E S W O M E N I N C O N S T R U C T I O N Interstate offers women an empowering and supportive environment that thrives on innovation, collaboration, mentoring and growth. We provide dynamic careers in many facets that support forward-thinking talented women. Join the trades and become part of an industry that impacts the world! MASSACHUSET TS | CONNEC TICUT | RHODE ISLAND NEW HAMPSHIRE | MAINE | VERMONT 855.500.IESC | www.iesc1.com Valued Partner. Trusted Employer. Mentoring: Engage with our experienced team. Learn from industry leaders to become the best! You decide how far you want to strive in your career, and we will help you get there. Earn while you learn: Paid apprentice schooling. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E P ROV I D E D P H O T O / JA C K S O N L A BO R AT O R Y Vivek Kumar, at Jackson Laboratory, says AI provides a tool to understand what's happening in brain activity and at the genetic level, and make it possible to test candidate drug treatments

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