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2335357

Project Grant

Overview

Grant Description
SBIR PHASE I: KNOWLEDGE GRAPH-POWERED INFORMATION RETRIEVAL AND CAUSAL INFERENCE -THE BROADER/COMMERCIAL IMPACT OF THIS SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PHASE I PROJECT IS AS FOLLOWS. THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE POSES TWO CRITICAL CHALLENGES: (1) MISSING IMPORTANT PRIOR STUDIES DURING RESEARCH DESIGN CAN LEAD TO RESOURCE AND TIME WASTAGE, INCORRECT CONCLUSIONS, AND MISSED DISCOVERIES, AND (2) EFFECTIVELY UTILIZING THE VAST VOLUME OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN RAW TEXT FORM HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT.

THIS PROJECT AIMS TO BUILD DISRUPTIVE, COMMERCIALLY VALUABLE PRODUCTS THAT ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES, BENEFITING THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC RESEARCH. IN ADDITION, THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT IN DEVELOPING ADVANCED AI TECHNOLOGIES WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE AI INDUSTRY IN TALLAHASSEE, FL, AND THE BROADER SOUTHEAST REGION OF THE UNITED STATES. THIS SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PHASE I PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP AI-POWERED, COMMERCIALLY VIABLE APPLICATIONS ENABLED BY A LARGE-SCALE BIOMEDICAL KNOWLEDGE GRAPH (KG) CONSTRUCTED RECENTLY USING AN AWARD-WINNING NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (NLP) PIPELINE.

THE KG HAS BEEN FURTHER TRANSFORMED INTO A CAUSAL KG BY INTEGRATING CAUSAL RELATIONS AND ENHANCED BY INCORPORATING DATA FROM 40 PUBLIC DATABASES AND ANALYSIS RESULTS OF SOME COMMONLY USED GENOMICS DATASETS. TO FACILITATE SEAMLESS ACCESS TO THE KG, THE PROJECT TEAM HAS DEVELOPED A VERSATILE QUERY INTERFACE NAMED IEXPLORE. THIS INTERFACE ENABLES HIGHLY ACCURATE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL AND SUPPORTS CAUSAL INFERENCE, PROVIDING USERS WITH VALUABLE INSIGHTS.

IN THE CURRENT PROJECT, INSILICOM LLC WILL FURTHER INCREASE THE COVERAGE OF THE KG AND BUILD A NOVEL LITERATURE ALERT SYSTEM CALLED IPULSE. BY COMBINING THE ADVANCEMENTS IN AI, THE RICHNESS OF THE KNOWLEDGE GRAPH, AND THE UTILITY OF THE QUERY INTERFACE AND LITERATURE ALERT SYSTEM, THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN PRACTICAL AND COMMERCIALLY VIABLE APPLICATIONS THAT WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE WAY BIOMEDICAL KNOWLEDGE IS ACCESSED, INTERPRETED, AND UTILIZED. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.
Awardee
Funding Goals
THE GOAL OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, "NSF SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR)/ SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAMS PHASE I", IS IDENTIFIED IN THE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PUB_SUMM.JSP?ODS_KEY=NSF23515
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Tallahassee, Florida 32312-5701 United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Insilicom was awarded Project Grant 2335357 worth $275,000 from National Science Foundation in February 2024 with work to be completed primarily in Tallahassee Florida United States. The grant has a duration of 1 year and was awarded through assistance program 47.084 NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships. The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity NSF Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I Programs.

SBIR Details

Research Type
SBIR Phase I
Title
SBIR Phase I: Knowledge Graph-powered Information Retrieval and Causal Inference
Abstract
The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is as follows. The exponential growth of scientific literature poses two critical challenges: (1) missing important prior studies during research design can lead to resource and time wastage, incorrect conclusions, and missed discoveries, and (2) effectively utilizing the vast volume of scientific knowledge in raw text form has become increasingly difficult. This project aims to build disruptive, commercially valuable products that address these challenges, benefiting the pharmaceutical industry and academic research. In addition, the success of the project in developing advanced AI technologies will have a significant impact on the growth and development of the AI industry in Tallahassee, FL, and the broader southeast region of the United States. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop AI-powered, commercially viable applications enabled by a large-scale biomedical knowledge graph (KG) constructed recently using an award-winning natural language processing (NLP) pipeline. The KG has been further transformed into a causal KG by integrating causal relations and enhanced by incorporating data from 40 public databases and analysis results of some commonly used genomics datasets. To facilitate seamless access to the KG, the project team has developed a versatile query interface named iExplore. This interface enables highly accurate information retrieval and supports causal inference, providing users with valuable insights. In the current project, Insilicom LLC will further increase the coverage of the KG and build a novel literature alert system called iPulse. By combining the advancements in AI, the richness of the knowledge graph, and the utility of the query interface and literature alert system, this project will result in practical and commercially viable applications that will revolutionize the way biomedical knowledge is accessed, interpreted, and utilized. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Topic Code
AI
Solicitation Number
NSF 23-515

Status
(Complete)

Last Modified 2/20/24

Period of Performance
2/15/24
Start Date
1/31/25
End Date
100% Complete

Funding Split
$275.0K
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$275.0K
Total Obligated
100.0% Federal Funding
0.0% Non-Federal Funding

Activity Timeline

Interactive chart of timeline of amendments to 2335357

Additional Detail

Award ID FAIN
2335357
SAI Number
None
Award ID URI
SAI EXEMPT
Awardee Classifications
Small Business
Awarding Office
491503 TRANSLATIONAL IMPACTS
Funding Office
491503 TRANSLATIONAL IMPACTS
Awardee UEI
UEZ1NQZ388J6
Awardee CAGE
702F0
Performance District
FL-02
Senators
Marco Rubio
Rick Scott
Modified: 2/20/24