AI: Advancing Foundational Biology symposium 2026 recap

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing not only how scientists answer biological questions, but also what questions they can ask. For example, researchers used to have to study proteins one by one. Now, AI tools like AlphaFold can quickly predict structures for millions of proteins. In the same vein, Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professor Regina Barzilay, and colleagues recently developed ProtGPS, an AI tool that can predict where many proteins will go inside a cell.

ProtGPS can spot disease-causing mutations that misdirect proteins. It can even help researchers design proteins that target specific parts of a cell — speeding up the development of more effective therapies with fewer side effects.

Building and applying AI tools like ProtGPS requires new kinds of collaborations and fresh approaches to training the next generation of scientists.

To further such efforts, more than 400 biologists, computer scientists, engineers, clinicians, industry and academic leaders, and students gathered in-person and online for the 2026 AI: Advancing Foundational Biology symposium, held at Whitehead Institute on March 3. Together, the interdisciplinary group explored how AI can continue to reshape biology.

“The discoveries we will hear about today happened because of the diversity of our experience and our shared passion for curiosity and innovation,” said Whitehead Institute President and Director Ruth Lehmann in her welcoming remarks.

The symposium is part of the Institute’s broader efforts under the Whitehead Innovation Initiative to foster a collaborative research community focused on leveraging AI to accelerate biological discovery.

The Initiative supports educational programming, research grants, and computational resources at Whitehead Institute to empower researchers to make innovative discoveries and train the next generation of AI experts. 

The event featured talks from four external leaders working at the intersection of AI and biology: Hani Goodarzi, associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco and a core investigator at the Arc Institute; Yunha Hwang, assistant professor in the department of biology and the department of electrical engineering and computer science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Christina Leslie, Member of the computational and systems biology program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Manuel Leonetti, senior group leader and director of systems biology at Biohub, San Francisco. 

Together, they explored topics spanning gene regulation, cancer progression, protein organization, and microbial evolution.

Ronald Vale, who joined Whitehead Institute as a Member last December and is a professor of biology at MIT, shared his perspective that while AI tools have transformed many areas of society, biology may only be starting to experience their full impact.

“As biologists are sitting on the surfboard looking out at the horizon, we can see this big swell coming,” Vale said. “We don’t know exactly how big it is, but we know we’re going to have to ride that wave somehow.”

Following the talks, Lehmann led a roundtable discussion with the speakers exploring both the surprising discoveries emerging from their computational models and the challenges these researchers face when building and these tools and applying them to biological questions. 

The event concluded with a poster session showcasing projects across Whitehead Institute that integrate computational approaches into foundational research. 

As the Whitehead Innovation Initiative continues to expand, events like the Symposium are helping build the collaborative community needed to bring AI into the heart of biological discovery.

“Biology is entering a moment where AI can fundamentally expand what questions we’re able to ask,” said Matteo Di Bernardo, a graduate student in the Cheeseman Lab who organized the event. “Bringing together researchers from different disciplines is essential for making AI tools meaningful for biology, and this symposium is helping build the community that will drive that progress.”