Research Investment: Wayne State University Schedules Town Hall on New $100M Facility

Wayne State University will host a town hall meeting on November 30 to address questions about the Health Sciences Research Building, which is currently under construction. The event is scheduled from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and will feature Ezemenari Obasi, Ph.D., the university's Vice President for Research & Innovation. All faculty members are invited to attend the discussion following a multi-disciplinary research symposium.

The symposium will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. in the Margherio Family Conference Center in Scott Hall. The program is open to all university faculty, students, postdoctoral scholars, and research staff. Registration is required to secure a meal, as pizza will be served from 11:30 a.m. to noon. Coffee and cookies will be available from 2:40 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. before the town hall begins.

Six researchers will present on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to clinical trials. Hengguang Li, Ph.D., professor and chair of Mathematics, will open the academic portion by discussing AI capabilities and infrastructure for biomedical research. Alice Walker, Ph.D., associate professor of Chemistry, will follow with a presentation on molecular machine learning and physical modeling for design.

Ladislau Kovari, Ph.D., professor and associate chair of Biochemistry, will speak on structural biology and drug discovery through LS-CAT Synchrotron Access. Steven Firestine, Ph.D., professor and chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences, will present on the design and evaluation of bile salt analogs as inhibitors of Clostridioides difficile spore germination. Wasif Saif, M.D., professor of Oncology, will discuss the process of translating laboratory discoveries into early-phase clinical trials.

The final academic presentation will be delivered by Phillip Levy, M.D., M.P.H., who serves as the Edward S. Thomas Endowed Professor of Emergency Medicine. Levy will introduce the DATAi Core. He also holds the roles of associate vice president for Translational Science and director of the Center for Population Health Accountability at Wayne Health. Hyeong-Reh Kim, Ph.D., vice dean of Research at the School of Medicine, is the primary contact for additional information regarding the event agenda.

Participants must submit a response to indicate which specific sessions they plan to attend. The university has structured the day to allow for a direct transition from the technical presentations to a leadership discussion on the new facility. The schedule allocates 25 minutes for each research presentation, with a 10-minute break for opening remarks and a 20-minute break for refreshments before the leadership session concludes the day's programming.