Darrin York, has received the second annual Grossman Innovation Prize from the School of Arts and Sciences. Read the news release to learn how York Lab's research could improve drug development, including for COVID-19, and learn also about Rutgers alumnus Alan Grossman and his support for innovative research. The York team, which also includes Associate Research Professors Timothy Giese and Tai-Sung Lee, will use the Grossman Prize to investigate the use of quantum mechanical force fields with machine learning applications for the drug discovery process.

Grossman Innovation Prize, made possible through a gift from Rutgers alumnus Alan Grossman, provides financial support over a one-year period to faculty members developing innovative ideas with commercial potential. The support allows recipients to develop their work to the proof-of-concept stage, when they would be eligible for venture capital funding and/or spin-off as independent businesses. A distinctive feature of the prize is that undergraduate students are intimately involved in the research and development process.