AISB26 Program

Bridging Atoms and Algorithms: A Symposium on AI and Structural Biology

March 17-18, 2026 at Vanderbilt University Student Life Center Ballrooms ABC

All events and times are subject to change.

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Program

Student Life Center Ballrooms ABC:

March 17, 2026

Welcome and Check-in: 

• 1:00 pm – 1:15 pm

Workshop and Keynote Address: 

• 1:15 pm ~ CryoET workshop/seminar presented by Thermo Fisher
  • Geoffrey Perumal, Electron Microscopy
  • Neelima Sukumar, PhD, Life Sciences EM
• 1:15 pm ~ AI workshop/seminar presented by CAIPD faculty
  • Hassane Mchaourab, PhD: Introduction and State of Science in CAIPD at Vanderbilt
  • Carlos Oliver, PhD: The Sequence to Dynamics Frontier: Squinting through the Dense Fog
  • Derek Claxton, PhD: Correlations and Predictability: guiding principles in the application of computational tools for disease-causing mutations
  • Benjamin P. Brown, PhD: Foundations of Molecular Discovery
• 2:45 pm ~ Break
  • Coffee, tea and light snacks available
• 3:00 pm ~ Rommie Amaro, PhD, UC San Diego: Keynote address

Networking Event:

• 4:00 pm ~ Reception hosted by Thermo Fisher featuring the Science Jeopardy Game hosted by Ray Blind, PhD, Vanderbilt University

Student Life Center Ballrooms ABC:

March 18, 2026

Welcome and Check-in: 

• 8:30 am – 8:50 am ~ Coffee, tea and pastries available
• 8:50 am – 9:00 am ~ Opening remarks from symposium organizers

Morning Scientific Session: 

• 9:00 am ~ Joey Davis, PhD, MIT: Visualizing Molecular Machines in Motion through CryoEM, CryoET, and Machine Learning
• 9:45 am ~ Stephanie Wankowicz, PhD, Vanderbilt University: Hidden in Plain Sight: Decoding Conformational Ensembles
• 10:20 am ~ Shannon Kordus, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center: A targeted cell lysis mechanism facilitates toxin release in Clostridioides difficile
• 10:35 am ~ Break
  • Coffee, tea and light snacks available
• 11:00 am ~ Danielle Grotjahn, PhD, Scripps Research: Messages Across Membranes: Connecting mitochondrial structure, function, and communication
• 11:45 am ~ Qiangju “QJ” Zhou, PhD, Vanderbilt University

Lunch: 12:20 pm – 1:30 pm

• Buffet lunch provided in SLC Ballroom

Afternoon Scientific Session: 

• 1:30 pm ~ Greg Bowman, PhD, Penn
• 2:15 pm ~ Benjamin P. Brown, MD/PhD, Vanderbilt University: What does generalizable artificial intelligence in drug discovery really mean?
• 2:50 pm ~ Break
  • Coffee, tea and light snacks provided
• 3:30 pm ~ Ben Spiller, PhD, Vanderbilt University
• 4:05 pm ~ Qingyu Tang, PhD, Vanderbilt University: Conformation Space of an ABC Transporter Revealed by Cryo-EM, DEER, MD Simulations and Deep Learning

Closing:

• 4:20 pm ~ Closing remarks from symposium organizers
• 4:30 pm ~ Poster Session and Networking Hour

All events are scheduled to be presented in-person and subject to change. Email the Symposium Organizing Committee with questions.