MIT Professors Win Pritzker Prize for AI Antibiotic Research

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professors Regina Barzilay and James Collins received the 2026 Pritzker Prize for AI in Science Research Excellence, MIT said in a university news post. The award recognizes their work combining deep learning, bioengineering and experimental testing to identify antibiotics against drug resistant pathogens.

Their research produced halicin, described in a 2020 paper as the first antibiotic discovered using AI. A deep learning model trained on 2,500 molecules identified the broad spectrum antibiotic, which killed several antibiotic resistant bacteria in testing. The discovery process took several weeks rather than years.

The researchers later helped identify abaucin in 2023. The narrow spectrum antibiotic targets Acinetobacter baumannii, a treatment resistant bacterium associated with hospital infections.

The University of Chicago and Caltech established the prize in 2024 to recognize research that advances both AI and the natural sciences or engineering.