Skip to main content

National Science Foundation Grant Will Fund Research to Identify Adversarial AI Behavior

09/11/2025

A three-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) was awarded to researchers from Saint Louis University and Northeastern University. 

Flavio Esposito, Ph.D.

Flavio Esposito, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science at Saint Louis University 

Flavio Esposito, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science in Saint Louis University’s School of Science and Engineering, is SLU’s principal investigator on the project. The three-year, $900,000 NSF award is for the project “CICI: IPAAI: REPAIRT: Securing xApps in Open RANs with Reliable and principled AI Red-Taming.” 

The project links Saint Louis University and Northeastern University’s programmable wireless labs to safely “red-team” (stress-test) the AI that helps run next-generation open radio (O-RAN) cellular networks. By simulating realistic attacks and failures, the team will spot risky behavior before and after systems go live and develop ways to remove tainted data or faulty logic without having to retrain the AI from scratch.

 

About the School of Science and Engineering

Saint Louis University formed the School of Science and Engineering in 2022 to better meet the future needs of its students and faculty. The school brings together select departments from the College of Arts and Sciences — chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, and physics — with the former Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology. To learn more about the School of Science and Engineering, visit slu.edu/science-and-engineering.

About Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic research institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 15,300 students a rigorous, transformative education that challenges and prepares them to make the world a better place. As a nationally recognized leader in research and innovation, SLU is an R1 research university, advancing groundbreaking, life-changing discoveries that promote the greater good.