Please join us: 4:30 p.m., TODAY, March 5th AI² Research Talk Series Bendheim House, Classroom 103 Lei Li is an Assistant Professor in Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on machine translation, agentic LLM, AI security, and AI-powered drug discovery. He received Ph.D. from CMU School of Computer Science in 2011. He is a recipient of the ACL 2021 Best Paper Award and the 2012 ACM SIGKDD dissertation award (runner-up), and is recognized as Notable Area Chair of the ICLR 2023. Previously, he was an associate professor (tenured) at UC Santa Barbara, the Founding Director of ByteDance AI Lab, a principal scientist at Baidu, and a postdoc researcher at UC Berkeley. He developed key technologies deployed in VolcTrans, Xiaomingbot, and TikTok, serving over a billion users. Web: [ https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~leili/ | https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~leili/ ] “Generative AI for Functional Protein Design” Abstract: Generative AI is not only revolutionizing language processing but is also transforming scientific fields such as biology and chemistry, as exemplified by the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In this talk, we explore three paradigms for functional protein design: sequence-based, geometry-based, and sequence/structure co-design. We introduce three advanced generative AI models following these paradigms—IsEMPro, SurfPro, and EnzyGen—along with their sample-efficient learning methodologies. Additionally, we highlight four impactful applications: designing enzymes with biocatalytic functions, optimizing proteins for specific fitness goals, developing protein-protein binders, and creating antimicrobial peptides. By emphasizing the powerful synergies between AI and molecular sciences, this talk seeks to inspire collaboration and drive advancements at the forefront of drug discovery, material innovation, and sustainable chemical manufacturing. [ https://invent.ai.princeton.edu/about/get-involved | AI² Mailing List ] [ https://invent.ai.princeton.edu/about/get-involved | Get Involved ] We are rapidly developing AI for Accelerated Invention activities and programs. Sign up for the mailing list and reach out to us with your questions.