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S. Sakkiah et al.
Rebecca Kusko is SVP and Head of R&D at Immuneering Corporation. She completing her
undergraduate degree at MIT in biological engineering and earning a Ph.D. in genetics and
genomics from BU before joining Immuneering in 2014. At Immuneering, she has been accelerating pharma R&D using advanced algorithms. Additionally, she is Board Member of the MAQC
Society, an initiative around best practices for big data analysis.
Weida Tong is Director of Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics at FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR/FDA). He has served as Science Advisory Board Member for several large projects involving multiple institutes in Europe and the USA. He also holds
several adjunct positions at universities in the USA and China. His division at FDA works to
develop bioinformatic methodologies and standards to support FDA research and regulation and to
advance regulatory science and personalized medicine. The most visible projects from his group
are (1) leading the Microarray Quality Control (MAQC) consortium to develop standard analysis
protocols and quality control metrics for emerging technologies to support regulatory science and
precision medicine; (2) development of liver toxicity knowledge base (LTKB) for drug safety; (3)
in silico drug repositioning for the enhanced treatment of rare diseases; and (4) development of the
FDA bioinformatics system, ArrayTrackTM suite, to support FDA review and research on pharmacogenomics. In addition, his group also specializes in molecular modeling and QSARs with a
specific interest in estrogen, androgen, and endocrine disruptor. He has published more than 230
papers and chapters.
Huixiao Hong is Chief of Bioinformatics Branch, Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics,
National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
working on the scientific bases for regulatory applications of bioinformatics. Before joining the
FDA, he was Manager of Bioinformatics Division of Z-Tech, an ICFI company. He was Research
Scientist Position at Sumitomo Chemical Company in Japan and Visiting Scientist at National
Cancer Institute at National Institutes of Health. He was also Associate Professor and Director of
Laboratory of Computational Chemistry at Nanjing University in China. He is Member of steering
committee of OpenTox, Member of Board Directors of US MidSouth Computational Biology and
Bioinformatics Society, and in the leadership circle of US FDA modeling and simulation working
group. He published more than 180 scientific papers and served as Editor-in-Chief, and Editorial
Board Member for multiple peer-reviewed journals. He received his Ph.D. from Nanjing University in China in 1990 and conducted research in Leeds University in England in 1990–1992.
S. Sakkiah et al.
Rebecca Kusko is SVP and Head of R&D at Immuneering Corporation. She completing her
undergraduate degree at MIT in biological engineering and earning a Ph.D. in genetics and
genomics from BU before joining Immuneering in 2014. At Immuneering, she has been accelerating pharma R&D using advanced algorithms. Additionally, she is Board Member of the MAQC
Society, an initiative around best practices for big data analysis.
Weida Tong is Director of Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics at FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR/FDA). He has served as Science Advisory Board Member for several large projects involving multiple institutes in Europe and the USA. He also holds
several adjunct positions at universities in the USA and China. His division at FDA works to
develop bioinformatic methodologies and standards to support FDA research and regulation and to
advance regulatory science and personalized medicine. The most visible projects from his group
are (1) leading the Microarray Quality Control (MAQC) consortium to develop standard analysis
protocols and quality control metrics for emerging technologies to support regulatory science and
precision medicine; (2) development of liver toxicity knowledge base (LTKB) for drug safety; (3)
in silico drug repositioning for the enhanced treatment of rare diseases; and (4) development of the
FDA bioinformatics system, ArrayTrackTM suite, to support FDA review and research on pharmacogenomics. In addition, his group also specializes in molecular modeling and QSARs with a
specific interest in estrogen, androgen, and endocrine disruptor. He has published more than 230
papers and chapters.
Huixiao Hong is Chief of Bioinformatics Branch, Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics,
National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
working on the scientific bases for regulatory applications of bioinformatics. Before joining the
FDA, he was Manager of Bioinformatics Division of Z-Tech, an ICFI company. He was Research
Scientist Position at Sumitomo Chemical Company in Japan and Visiting Scientist at National
Cancer Institute at National Institutes of Health. He was also Associate Professor and Director of
Laboratory of Computational Chemistry at Nanjing University in China. He is Member of steering
committee of OpenTox, Member of Board Directors of US MidSouth Computational Biology and
Bioinformatics Society, and in the leadership circle of US FDA modeling and simulation working
group. He published more than 180 scientific papers and served as Editor-in-Chief, and Editorial
Board Member for multiple peer-reviewed journals. He received his Ph.D. from Nanjing University in China in 1990 and conducted research in Leeds University in England in 1990–1992.