Annual Research Day
5th Annual CBQB Research Day: Jie Liang Memorial Symposium @ UIC
The 5th Annual Research Day of the Center for Bioinformatics and Quantitative Biology (CBQB) at UIC will be held on Friday, October 17, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Thompson Room ABC in Student Center West. This year’s event will be held as a memorial symposium in honor Dr. Jie Liang, the founding Director of CBQB who passed away in December 2024 (In Memoriam: Long time faculty remembered for big smile, CBQB, passion).
Dr. Liang was a University Distinguished Professor and Richard and Loan Hill Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He made foundational contributions to Computational Geometry, Bioinformatics, Biophysics, Computational Biology, and System Biology. He was a pioneer and leader in applying advanced methods in geometry and topology to biological systems and process. He also developed quantitative models and computational tools to study protein structures and dynamics, stochastic regulatory networks, 3D chromatin folding, cellular dynamics and tissue pattern formation.
Dr. Liang was also the founding architect of the UIC Graduate Program in Bioinformatics, one of the earliest programs in the nation. He joined UIC in 1999 as an Assistant professor and became a Full professor in 2007. He mentored more than 40 graduate students and post-docs. Many of his mentees have gone on to academic positions at institutions such as Columbia University, Washington University, Florida State University, continuing his legacy of scientific excellence.
To celebrate Dr. Liang’s profound impact on science and education, we are inviting his collaborators and colleagues to speak at this memorial symposium to share their research and memories about Dr. Liang.
We invite you to join us in honoring his life, legacy, and achievements he made to our scientific community.
Event Schedule
media
Mark Your Calendars!
10/17 - 5th Annual CBQB Research Day: Jie Liang Memorial Symposium @ UIC
Registration and Abstract Submission Instructions
Invited Speakers
Amy Kenter, PhD
University of Illinois Chicago
Professor of Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Talk Title: Nuclear Compartmentalization: What Happens When Genes Wander?
Dong Xu, PhD
University of Missouri
Curators’ Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Member of Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center and the Informatics Institute
Talk Title: Applications of Large Language Models for Studying Biology
Ken A. Dill, PhD
Stony Brook University
Laufer Family Endowed Chair in Physical Biology
SUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemistry & Physics
Talk Title: Origins of Life: A Problem of Protein Biophysics
Qing Nie, PhD
University of California, Irvine
Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Developmental & Cell Biology
UC Presidential Chair
UCI Excellence in Teaching Chair
Talk Title: Systems Biology of Single Cells
Robert Jernigan, PhD
Iowa State University
Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology
Talk Title: Using Geometry to Validate Function Predictions from Large Protein Language Models
Shankar Subramaniam, PhD
University of California at San Diego
Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Computer Science & Engineering, Cellular & Molecular Medicine and Nano Engineering
Talk Title: Triple Negative Breast Cancer – Diagnosis to a Drug
CBQB Research Day 2021
For More Information
For more information, please email cbqb@uic.edu.
Awards
- Poster Presentation Awards: 1st place (80$), 2nd place (60$), 3rd place (30$)