Harvey Mudd Clinic Team Publishes Cancer Research in ACS Omega
December 15, 2025Share story
The 无忧视频鈥揕awrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Clinic team has published its research in ACS Omega, marking a significant achievement for the students and their collaborators. The publication stems from the team鈥檚 2024鈥�2025 Clinic project focused on improving the accessibility of advanced molecular-scale cancer simulations.
The team鈥擝ryce Tu Chi 鈥�25, Stephanie Fulcar 鈥�25, Jonathan Ipe 鈥�25, Olivia Schleifer 鈥�25, Rohan Subramanian 鈥�25 and Claire Vlases CMC 鈥�25鈥攚as advised by adjunct Professor of Computer Science Naim Matasci. Their work supports a Department of Energy (DOE) and National Cancer Institute initiative aimed at understanding how RAS鈥揜AF protein interactions drive nearly 30% of human cancers.
The project focused on expanding access to MuMMI (multiscale machine-learned modeling infrastructure), a powerful simulation framework originally designed for DOE supercomputers, such as LLNL鈥檚 El Capitan鈥攖he most powerful supercomputer in the world. The Clinic team reengineered key components of the software to make it usable by a broader community of researchers and incorporated advanced AI algorithms to improve performance and accuracy.
Student Researchers Motivated
Olivia Schleifer says seeing the work published has been 鈥渋ncredibly rewarding,鈥� marking the culmination of close collaboration between the Clinic team and LLNL scientists. 鈥淔or many of us, this was our first experience taking a research project from idea to publication,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 given us a deeper appreciation for both the scientific process and the teamwork behind impactful research.鈥� She hopes the machine-learning methods they developed will 鈥渉elp accelerate the design of new therapeutics鈥� by potentially improving the speed and precision of computational drug-discovery pipelines.
Claire Vlases enjoyed the opportunity to use one of the world鈥檚 most powerful supercomputers and contribute to meaningful cancer research, 鈥渟omething most students only dream about.鈥� The publication, she says, 鈥渟hows us that we can do it. It鈥檚 motivating in a really deep way.鈥� She says the team鈥檚 approach has the potential to lower computational barriers for researchers exploring mechanisms behind RAS-driven cancers, ultimately supporting new discoveries and potential treatments.
Project Goals Met
Matasci explains that the Clinic project filled a critical need in the national ADMIRRAL initiative (AI-Driven Multiscale Investigation of the RAS/RAF Activation Lifecycle). 鈥淣ot everyone has access to DOE supercomputing resources and the expertise of the computational scientists who designed these tools,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he goal of the project, and the focus of this publication, was to make MUMMI accessible to the broader community of computational cancer researchers. The software is now available for download for everyone.鈥�
He adds that publication was a stretch goal, one the students achieved through exceptional dedication and the mentorship of their LLNL partners. 鈥淭he article鈥檚 inclusion in a special ACS collection highlighting undergraduate research 鈥榓s the stimulus for scientific progress in the USA鈥� is incredibly fitting.鈥�
The team鈥檚 accomplishment showcases the strength of Harvey Mudd鈥檚 Clinic Program which provides students with opportunities to contribute to high-impact scientific projects that advance both research and society.
Find the ACS Omega published paper here: