Abstract: An important aspect to counteracting biological threats involves identifying unknown pathogens. What can we do if we are faced with a never-before-seen pathogen with no available diagnostic test? We need a way to rapidly detect and accurately classify novel pathogens. My research uses artificial intelligence (AI) to decode the complex innate immune system – the body’s first line of defense against infection. Analyzing signals from our body’s response to infection is an important step towards identifying pathogen types in early infection. This strategy for early warning pathogen detection and countermeasure development can inform on emerging infections, therapeutic strategies, and disease severity.

Bio: Marina is a postdoctoral research associate at LANL's Information Systems & Modeling Group. Her research focuses on developing artificial intelligence models to decode the innate immune system for pathogen classification. Marina earned her PhD in Applied Mathematics from Arizona State University.