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Prediction of chemical bioactivity and physical properties has been one of the most important applications of statistical and more recently, machine learning and artificial intelligence methods in chemical sciences. This field of research, broadly known as quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSAR) modeling, has developed many important algorithms and has found a broad range of applications in physical organic and medicinal chemistry in the past 55+ years. This Perspective summarizes recent technological advances in QSAR modeling but it also highlights the applicability of algorithms, modeling methods, and validation practices developed in QSAR to a wide range of research areas outside of traditional QSAR boundaries including synthesis planning, nanotechnology, materials science, biomaterials, and clinical informatics. As modern research methods generate rapidly increasing amounts of data, the knowledge of robust data-driven modelling methods professed within the QSAR field can become essential for scientists working both within and outside of chemical research. We hope that this contribution highlighting the generalizable components of QSAR modeling will serve to address this challenge. 

Biofilm formation is a major cause of hospital‐acquired infections. Research into biofilm‐resistant materials is therefore critical to reduce the frequency of these events. Polymer microarrays offer a high‐throughput approach to enable the efficient discovery of novel biofilm‐resistant polymers. Herein, bacterial attachment and surface chemistry are studied for a polymer microarray to improve the understanding ofPseudomonas aeruginosabiofilm formation on a diverse set of polymeric surfaces. The relationships between time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) data and biofilm formation are analyzed using linear multivariate analysis (partial least squares [PLS] regression) and a nonlinear self‐organizing map (SOM). The SOM models revealed several combinations of fragment ions that are positively or negatively associated with bacterial biofilm formation, which are not identified by PLS. With these insights, a second PLS model is calculated, in which interactions between key fragments (identified by the SOM) are explicitly considered. Inclusion of these terms improved the PLS model performance and shows that, without such terms, certain key fragment ions correlated with bacterial attachment may not be identified. The chemical insights provided by the combination of PLS regression and SOM will be useful for the design of materials that support negligible pathogen attachment.