How should we use AI for antibiotic discovery?

Join WCMR to hear what Jon Stokes is doing with AI and antibiotic discovery. 

Thursday, March 13, 2025

1 - 2:30 p.m.

DC 1302

Please RSVP to attend in person.

Abstract: Antibiotic resistance is a global challenge, causing 1.5 million deaths per year. In this talk, we will explore the application of AI techniques to discover and design novel antibiotics with activity against drug-resistant pathogens. We will also discuss the utility of AI methods to predict the biological functions of novel antibacterial molecules. 

About the speaker:

Dr. Jon Stokes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, carrying a prestigious Banting Fellowship from 2018-2020. Stokes established his laboratory back at McMaster in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences in August 2021. The Stokes lab leverages a balance of experimental and computational approaches to discover the next generation of life-saving antibiotics with novel structures and functions that expand the capabilities of these medicines beyond the current state of the art. One of the lab’s primary interests, quite broadly, is in the application of deep learning approaches to help predict the antibacterial properties of structurally novel small molecules. Stokes also co-founded a non-profit organization, Phare Bio, which aims to de-risk promising antibiotic candidates and position these molecules for more rapid advancement through the clinical trial process, and Stoked Bio, a Biotech startup.