Translational informatics is the main focus of the AI.MED lab’s research.  Working on the interface between bioinformatics and clinical research, lab members work to create new techniques and databases to improve clinical care, diagnosis, treatment and to advance clinical research. Jake Chen, Ph.D., the lab’s principal investigator, has research interests in systems biology, data mining, advanced visual analytics for therapeutic discovery and clinical decision-making applications. His lab is working to build biomolecular systems models from biomedical big data in an attempt to understand, simulate and predict complex disease biology outcomes.

Dr. Chen is currently listed as an investigator on the following research grants:

• Building an Interpretable Genomic Translator Using Maps of Cell Architecture, NIH  2022 – 2026
• Identifying Secreted Protein Networks Affecting Human Pancreatic Islet Function in Type 2 Diabetes Using Public Omic Databases  awarded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH/DHHS  2021 – 2023
• Natural Language Processing to Extract Explainable Features from Drug SMILEs for Personalized Drug Screening, CCTS 2022  – 2023
• Credentialing Next-generation Human Glioma Models for Precision Therapeutics  awarded by National Cancer Institute/NIH/DHHS 2022 – 2026
• Role of Bone Marrow Tregs in Maintaining Stromal Cell Function  awarded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH/DHHS 2020 – 2024
• UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), 2019 – 2024, NCATS / NIH 
• Neurodevelopmental Deficits in Fetus and Children with Congenital Heart Disease, 2019 – 2022, DOD
• Biological Comparisons Among Three Derivative Models of Glioma Patient Cancers Under Microenvironmental Stress awarded by National Cancer Institute/NIH/DHHS 2018 – 2023
• Characterization of the Lupus Nephritis microRNAome  awarded by National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases/NIH/DHHS 2018 – 2023
• B Cell Intrinsic Interferon-beta Regulates Autoreactive B Cell Development  awarded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/NIH/DHHS 2018 – 2023