Caltech Together: Silicon Valley

“Foundation Models for Biological Structures” by Jarren Qiao

Evolution has shaped how biological molecules work together, allowing living organisms to communicate and transfer energy throughout the body over different distances and time periods. The ability to predict and redesign atomic-level interactions among all biological molecules has unlocked immense opportunities for molecular simulation and drug discovery.

In this talk, I will discuss how AI foundation models and accelerated computing have led to major advances in understanding biological molecules and designing new ones. I will also discuss the frontiers beyond structure prediction and protein engineering.

About the Speaker

Zhuoran (Jarren) Qiao is the co-founder of a Bay-area based stealth startup building foundation AI models for chemical sciences. He was a founding scientist at Chai Discovery and Iambic Therapeutics, and a 2025 Science AI Grand Prize winner.

Jarren earned his PhD in Chemistry from Caltech with a minor in Quantum Science and Engineering, advised by Prof. Anima Anandkumar and Prof. Thomas Miller. His past research centered around developing physics-driven AI approaches for problems in chemistry and structural biology.

To attend, please click this link to register for the event.

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