Caltech graduate Zhuoran Qiao (PhD ’23), a machine learning researcher and founding scientist at Chai Discovery in San Francisco, has been awarded the top honor of the first Chen Institute and Science Prize for AI Accelerated Research for his groundbreaking application of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance scientific discoveries in biochemistry.

While at Caltech, Qiao obtained his PhD in chemistry under the mentorship of Anima Anandkumar, a Bren Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, along with former Caltech faculty member Thomas Miller, co-founder and CEO of Iambic Therapeutics. Qiao’s dissertation research focused on creating machine learning techniques for the computational modeling of chemical systems, which typically pose significant modeling challenges.

Currently, building upon Nobel Prize-recognized research that employs generative AI techniques to forecast protein folding, Qiao applies advanced machine learning strategies to develop dynamic models that illustrate how folded proteins evolve over time—and significantly, how they interact with smaller molecules. The outcome is a “computational microscope” that can swiftly and accurately predict protein behavior, facilitating powerful new methods for drug discovery.

“We’re unlocking a tremendous opportunity to map these molecular interactions on an unparalleled scale—and to harness this for the swift development of new drugs and therapies,” Qiao remarks.

Participants in the prize competition each submitted a 1,000-word essay outlining their research, which was evaluated by an independent panel of Science editors. Qiao is awarded a cash prize of $30,000, and his essay is featured in today’s issue of Science, both in print and online.

Alumnus Aditya Nair (PhD ’25), currently serving as a postdoctoral fellow and National Institutes of Health BRAIN NeuroAI Early Career Scholar at Caltech and Stanford University, was one of two runners-up for the award. Nair is utilizing AI and capitalizing on advances in neural imaging to uncover the concealed choruses and harmonies that arise as neurons interact with one another. His research demonstrates that these interactions establish persistent self-sustaining patterns that can encode and modulate enduring mental or emotional states—such as arousal, anger, or hunger—regardless of the activity of any single neuron. His models also indicate that these lasting network effects are influenced by slow-acting neuropeptides, enhancing their robustness over time.

At Caltech, Nair worked in the laboratory of David Anderson, the Seymour Benzer Professor of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and director and Leadership Chair of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech.

Qiao and Nair, along with finalist Alizée Roobaert from the Flanders Marine Institute in Belgium, will showcase their work at the inaugural Chen Institute Symposium for AI Accelerated Science in San Francisco this fall.

The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience was founded at Caltech in 2016 through a $115 million donation from philanthropists Tianqiao Chen and Chrissy Luo.