SPARC News

UAB SPARC Highlights AI Knowledge Infrastructure and Drug Discovery Innovation at Alabama AI Innovation Summit

April 15, 2026 — Birmingham, AL. The Systems Pharmacology AI Research Center (SPARC) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham participated in the 2026 Alabama AI Innovation Summit, held April 9–10 at the Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa. The summit, organized around the theme “AI Operating Systems & Knowledge Infrastructure,” brought together researchers, industry leaders, and public-sector partners to explore the technical and organizational foundations needed for

Apr 152 min read

SPARC and DBIDS Seminar Announcement

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Qing Shao from the University of Kentucky for a seminar on AI-driven protein modeling and molecular simulations . In this talk, Dr. Shao will discuss new approaches for understanding protein behavior, predicting mutation effects, and advancing precision medicine and drug development, with a special focus on APOE and Alzheimer’s disease. Date: Wednesday, April 1 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: ALGEN Building, Room 501.

Mar 301 min read

UAB SPARC Showcases Breakthrough in AI-Agent Driven Drug Discovery at Global AI Science Conference

October 22, 2025 — Birmingham, AL. The Systems Pharmacology AI Research Center (SPARC) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, led by Professor Jake Y. Chen , has achieved a milestone recognition at the 1st Open Conference of AI Agents for Science 2025 hosted online today by Stanford University. Out of more than 350 paper submissions, only 48 were accepted after rigorous peer review by 3 AI reviewers and a human expert each, and among them, UAB SPARC’s work was sele

Oct 22, 20252 min read

Case Study: Dr. Ashita Tolwani’s Citrate Anticoagulation Innovation in CRRT

The “Citrate Queen” visits UAB SPARC on Oct 21st, 2025 CRRT Anticoagulation Challenges and the Risks of Systemic Heparin Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is a dialysis modality used in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury, especially when hemodynamic instability makes traditional intermittent dialysis unsafe . A major challenge in CRRT is preventing the extracorporeal circuit from clotting without causing patient bleeding. Critically ill patients often

Oct 21, 202511 min read

Open Source Drug Discovery 2.0: A hybrid IP and incentive framework for democratising translational AI drug research

Jake Y. Chen, PhD Systems Pharmacology Research Center (SPARC) School of Medicine of the University of Alabama at Birmingham...

Oct 7, 20259 min read

Join the Open IP‑Gating Pilot: Validating the First Open Alzheimer’s Drug Candidate

Introduction The Open Source Drug Discovery 2.0 (OSDD‑2) framework invites researchers, clinicians and innovators to participate in the...

Oct 6, 20253 min read

Blocking Memory Loss: Delta Opioid Receptor Antagonists Prevent Alzheimer’s Pathology

New Class of Compounds Shows Neuroprotection, Plaque Reduction, and Strong Drug-Like Properties Birmingham, AL – Sep 25, 2025 – ...

Sep 25, 20252 min read

Harnessing the power of AI for Alzheimer’s disease drug discovery at UAB System Pharmacology AI Research Center (SPARC)

SPARC Turns Alzheimer’s Research Into Action in 90 Days When a Cell paper published on April 23, 2025 , proposed a new transcriptional role for PHGDH in the amyloid pathology of Alzheimer’s disease , the UAB Systems Pharmacology AI Research Center (SPARC) didn’t treat it as the finish line—it treated it as a relay handoff . Led by Sixue Zhang, Ph.D. , associate director of SPARC, and Jake Y. Chen, Ph.D. , SPARC’s director, the team mobilized its systems-pharmacology and ge

Aug 22, 20252 min read