Doctors Told Him He Was Going to Die. Then AI Saved His Life

Just over a year ago, Joseph Coates faced a terminal prognosis from a rare blood disorder called POEMS syndrome. But his girlfriend wasn’t ready to quit, and she reached out to David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, an assistant professor of Translational Medicine & Human Genetics, who the couple had met at a rare disease summit. Fajgenbaum proposed an unconventional drug combination of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and steroids that had been generated by an AI model trained to find new uses for existing drugs. Coates received the treatment in his home state of Washington, and it worked. He became eligible for a stem cell transplant and is now in remission. His story highlights a growing trend showing how AI may be helping find cures for rare diseases that are hiding in plain sight.