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New research brings power of AI, robotics, deep datasets to test drugs for devastating bird flu
RESEARCH TO WATCH
University of Michigan researchers in pharmacy, chemistry and medicine will design and test novel drugs in search of prevention strategies for highly contagious avian influenza, specifically the subtype H5Nx. The virus’s prevalence and spread has increased annually since 2021, harming animals, people, livelihoods and the economy.
Why it matters
The virus has wiped out farm-raised turkey and chicken flocks across America, costing billions of dollars as animals are culled and supply chains are disrupted, leading to steep increases in food prices, specifically eggs. Bird flu has also infected cattle in several U.S. states, killed thousands of seals and sea lions worldwide and jumped to humans, posing a serious public health threat as the virus mutates.
There are no approved or recommended antiviral drugs for treating infected poultry, leaving farmers to protect their birds from the virus without the aid of reliable medicines. The virus can mutate rapidly and cross species. Bird flu is a normally occurring virus, but the outbreaks of most concern are of a highly pathogenic strain with cases on the rise since 2021.
The risk of currently circulating strains is low for the general public. There are medications approved for humans, but drug resistance evolves rapidly requiring new, more effective treatments. The CDC has reported dozens of H5Nx cases in the United States and at least two deaths in humans since 2024.
Last week, officials in Colorado issued a disaster declaration as bird flu spreads among chicken farms in Weld County, home to about 370,000 residents, and other states such as New York and New Jersey are monitoring after several geese and ducks died from the virus. Michigan also detected its first case of bird flu for 2026 in Ottawa County last week.
How much and for how long
The grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides $2 million to the team to combine their complementary research tools and expertise. The study officially begins Feb. 2 and runs for three years.
The grant falls under the HPAI Poultry Innovation Grand Challenge run by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS. The project is investing $100 million in funding for innovative projects aimed at combating HPAI—highly pathogenic avian influenza—and advancing prevention, therapeutics, vaccine development and research to understand transmission and strengthen biosecurity. Recipients include vaccine manufacturers, universities, producer organizations and other research partners.
Who’s involved
Terra Sztain is an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at the College of Pharmacy. Her research uses physics and artificial intelligence for computer-aided drug design and protein engineering. Her testing models anticipate resistance, design drugs to withstand it and apply computation and experimental biology to stay ahead of a potentially devastating virus.
“Highly pathogenic avian influenza poses a major threat to agriculture and human health. Treatment is challenging due to rapid drug resistance,” she said. “Our collaborative team is combining state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and experiments to predict and prepare for resistance evolution and develop effective treatment options.”
Tim Cernak is an associate professor of medicinal chemistry at the College of Pharmacy and associate professor of chemistry at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. His lab studies the interface of chemical synthesis, computer science and conservation toward the improvement of human and environmental health, using algorithms, robotics and data science to address health challenges in humans and endangered species. His work is rooted in the One Health philosophy that human health, animal health and environmental health are all connected.
“The scale of the avian flu problem is massive, and the pace of viral mutation is rapid,” Cernak said. “The automated drug discovery platform our lab has developed is well poised to tackle this issue, with the speed of inhibitor optimization ramped up using AI, robotics and a direct-to-biology approach. I am excited to synergize our efforts with Terra and Adam’s teams, and answer the call posed by this One Health challenge.”
Adam Lauring is the Lydia DeWitt Collegiate Professor of Internal Medicine and professor of microbiology and immunology at the U-M Medical School and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. He is developing a dataset of thousands of mutants of the virus to help predict how it will mutate in the wild.
“Highly pathogenic avian influenza is a serious problem in agriculture with significant impacts on poultry and dairy farms,” Lauring said. “It’s really exciting to be part of an interdisciplinary team that is responding to this call and looking for new solutions. This sort of work is possible because of the outstanding research breadth and depth across the U-M campus. It’s part of what makes this university special.”
