Our Partnership with Washington University in St Louis (WashU)

Functional analysis of a zebrafish protein guided by conserved molecular grammars of intrinsically disordered regions

For an egg to develop properly, it needs to build a structure called the Balbiani body, but scientists still don’t fully understand how it forms and functions. This project focuses on a newly discovered protein called Pinchado, which appears essential to that process: when it’s disrupted in zebrafish, it leads to fragmentation of the Balbiani body, defective eggs, and abnormal embryos. By pairing computational modeling and biochemical experiments at WashU (Pappu group) with zebrafish tests of function at Warwick (Sampath group), the researchers hope to uncover how Pinchado’s flexible regions, known in the field as “intrinsically disordered regions”, interact with other egg proteins and what role the regions play in fertility and early development.

Topological Anderson criticality

Monolayer amorphous carbon (MAC) is a recently discovered atomically thin material that is a remarkable insulator with an ultralow dielectric constant and record breakdown strength. Its unusual properties have caught the interest of the semiconductor industry, but scientists don’t yet understand why it behaves the way it does. Early evidence suggests MAC’s behavior may be governed by the topology of its atomic bonds rather than random disorder – a potentially more predictable, engineerable property. This project pairs computational modeling (WashU) with mathematical physics (Warwick) to test that idea and whether materials like MAC could be deliberately designed rather than optimized by trial and error.

Democracy in an age of authoritarianism

Can democracy find its way through its current crisis, and what will it take to nurture its renewal? This project examines that question by focusing on the role of grassroots institutions and local communities in the United States and United Kingdom. Sociologists Alexander Smith (Warwick) and David Cunningham (WashU) are building a collaboration around shared research interests in grassroots democracy, local institutions, and the legacies of polarization and violence. The project will consolidate a joint research partnership between WashU and the University of Warwick, including a pilot case study in the St. Louis metropolitan area exploring these themes in the American Midwest.

Global AI literacy: A WashU Medicine-Warwick Medical School joint framework for biomedical and healthcare education

As AI transforms modern healthcare, foundational literacy for clinical and research professionals is essential. Despite rapid adoption, with roughly two in three physicians already using health AI tools in practice, a significant confidence and literacy gap persists: up to 78% of healthcare professionals express concerns about AI’s integration, and less than half feel equipped to evaluate its risks or recognize algorithmic bias. This project adapts WashU’s Center for Health AI (CHAI) AI-Q Foundational Course into a cross-institutional educational framework with the University of Warwick. Led by Drs. Philip Payne (WashU) and Sascha Ott (Warwick), the resulting workshop curriculum demystifies AI, moving it from a “black box” to plain language, traces the history of computing, examines model mechanics (e.g., GPT vs. Claude), addresses data bias, and establishes governance guidelines. The goal is to standardize AI competency across institutions so researchers can safely navigate AI tools, protect data integrity, and promote ethical, unbiased workflows across global healthcare ecosystems.