Sattibabu Merugu, PhD

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florida with a background in pharmaceutical sciences, chemoinformatics, and computational toxicology. I earned my PhD in Natural Sciences (Chemical Sciences) from the University of Gdańsk, Poland, in 2025, where my doctoral work focused on developing transcriptomics-based and adverse outcome pathway (AOP)-anchored predictive models for carbon nanotube inhalation toxicity.

My research centers on building AI-assisted, mechanism-based modeling frameworks to advance New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for risk assessment and nanomedicine. At the University of Florida, I focus on developing physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) and quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) models for drugs, environmental chemicals, and nanoparticles; performing meta-analyses of pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution data in healthy and tumor-bearing animals using machine learning and AI; and integrating PBPK and QSAR models with AI-driven methods to support decision-making in human, animal, and environmental health.

My broader research vision is to bridge chemoinformatics, bioinformatics, and systems toxicology to create mechanistically anchored predictive models that reduce reliance on animal testing and accelerate safe-by-design innovations.