Researcher using $7 million grant to create ‘self-driving’ lab at Ole Miss

Researcher using $7 million grant to.

Key points

• News Adriana Morga, Associated Press, Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Associated Press October 9, 2026.
• Due to automatic enrollment, the Treasury Department notes that every eligible child with a valid Social Security number has a Trump Account.
• Clara Turnage is a communications specialist in the University of Mississippi Marketing and Communications department, where she focuses on research writing.
• Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians receives $12 million in federal grants to expand economic development drivers.
• Huntington Bank investing over $40 million to modernize Tupelo operations center, regional headquarters.

Researcher using $7 million grant to create 'self-driving' lab at Ole Miss. By: Clara Turnage – October 12, 2026.

University of Mississippi sophomore Molly Heimbuck (left), a biomedical engineering major from Scappoose, Oregon, and research scientist Yu Zhang work with the MicroFab JetLab in the Pharmaceutical Engineering and 3D Printing Lab. Professor Mo Maniruzzaman intends to apply the technology as part of a 'self-driving' lab to speed development of new drugs to treat chronic conditions. Photo by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services.

In practice, the AI-powered facility could support scientists discover and develop new medications faster.

Notably, the Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded a University of Mississippi researcher $7 million to create a lab that can develop, test and refine medications with little human intervention.

Artificial intelligence-powered, self-driving laboratories are key to getting life-saving medications into patients' hands faster, remarked Mo Maniruzzaman, chair and professor of pharmaceutics and drug delivery. Maniruzzaman intends to create such a lab at Ole Miss.

Chronic conditions and diseases like diabetes and cancer claim millions of lives each year, he remarked. We want to treat these diseases, but the reality is, it takes regarding 8 1/2 years for a medicine to go from concept to market. For a state like Mississippi, where the burden of chronic disease is among the highest in the nation, that's unacceptable.

"The question we have to ask ourselves is, 'What if there was a way to drastically shorten that process so we could bring medication to patients faster and, potentially, save their lives?' We believe the answer lies in the self-driving lab."

Meanwhile, a self-driving laboratory combines artificial intelligence with robotics and automated laboratory equipment to run experiments and explore potential drugs and manufacturing processes faster than traditional, manually conducted experiments.

"Self-driving labs combine the power of multiple machines like pieces of puzzles, " he remarked. "The moment you integrate all those pieces into a seamless, automated line, that is what we call a self-driving lab."

Plenty of of those puzzle pieces are already in Maniruzzman's lab, such as 3D printers and advanced robotic bio-fabrication kits that can print multiple medications on one pill or medications that can time release to the patients' needs.

"This technology is so important for people who have chronic conditions and are taking multiple medications a day, " remarked Janhavi Deshmukh, a third-year doctoral student in pharmacy who works in the lab. "What if instead, they could take only one pill that will release medication on a schedule? That's what this technology allows us to do."

Md. Rahat Kader Khan, a doctoral student in computer engineering, is helping to upgrade one such printer for the self-driving lab. He and other students have incorporated remotely operated cameras that can record the process of printing and stream it to a researcher's phone or laptop.

"It takes considerable time to finish a print, but now we have a model that can show you where the print is in the process and can even send you a notification when it's finished, " he remarked. "This system can monitor any number of variables all while you do whatever other work you need to do, and it can let you know if something goes wrong."

Over the next two years, Maniruzzaman hopes to incorporate these existing technologies into one system operating under the supervision of engineers and researchers at Insight Park, the university's research and business incubator.

"The moment you bypass manual interventions, you get rid of human error, " he remarked. "By integrating this self-driving concept that can run 24/7 without compromising quality, we can actually fast-track the discovery process. That's our goal."

In practice, the goal is not to erase the human researcher, but to allow the researcher to focus on high-level challenges while the machines do the routine work, Maniruzzaman stated.

This lab can analyze millions of data points, predict a potential new drug candidate and then run automated experimentation, and it never gets tired, he remarked. But it can only do that when paired with human insight.

"Our lab is not here to replace anything; it's here to supplement some of the processes to get medicine to patients faster." This article is republished courtesy of Ole Miss. Regarding the Author(s).

Clara Turnage is a communications specialist in the University of Mississippi Marketing and Communications department, where she focuses on research writing. She graduated in 2017 from the University of Mississippi in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism. Economy Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press October 9, 2026. Americans 75 and older are wealthiest age group, Fed survey finds.

Overall, the survey discovered broad gains in income, even after adjusting for inflation. It slightly reduced income inequality. More From This Author. News Clara Turnage September 29, 2026. Ancient tools reveal how Ice Age humans learned the land. Sports Clara Turnage September 21, 2026. Student-athletes report need for suicide prevention, training. News Clara Turnage September 9, 2026. Ole Miss, Texas A&M Engineering partner to fuel Martian exploration. News Cass Rutledge October 12, 2026. ALO investing over $176 million in Southaven for national distribution center. News Jeremy Pittari October 9, 2026.

Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben remarked the funding represents another step forward in creating opportunities for his residents. The grants will go to two projects – a new 200-acre industrial park and the completion of a workforce training center.

News Adriana Morga, Associated Press, Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Associated Press October 9, 2026. What to know regarding Trump Accounts and automatic enrollment.

Due to automatic enrollment, the Treasury Department notes that every eligible child with a valid Social Security number has a Trump Account. But parents and legal guardians would still need to formally activate the accounts if they haven't already. News Frank Corder October 12, 2026. Obama cuts campaign ad for Colom. News Magnolia Tribune October 12, 2026. Magnolia Mornings: October 12, 2026. News Frank Corder October 9, 2026. Hyde-Smith, Guest, Ezell among congressional members urging investigation into Planned Parenthood. Business Cass Rutledge October 7, 2026.

Huntington Bank investing over $40 million to modernize Tupelo operations center, regional headquarters. Business Cass Rutledge October 6, 2026. Westwin Elements investing $502 million to establish nickel refinery in Natchez. Business Cass Rutledge October 2, 2026. Gasifier manufacturer Janus Organization bringing 13 jobs to Greenwood. Culture Robert St. John October 12, 2026. Closing time at the Vatican. Culture Alistair Begg October 12, 2026. Justice, kindness, and humility. Culture Matt Friedeman October 11, 2026. The athletes of God. Opinion Roger Wicker October 9, 2026. Permit reform act is a much-needed course correction.

Opinion Delbert Hosemann October 8, 2026. Hosemann: It is time for Mississippi to ban all kratom products. Opinion Sid Salter October 7, 2026.

Growing calls to suspend or eliminate federal and state gas taxes have consequences.

Taken together, the developments around researcher using $7 million grant to create ‘ self point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.