CBQB honors Liang during fifth annual Research Symposium
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The fifth annual Center for Bioinformatics and Quantitative Biology Research Symposium took place in October, bringing together students, faculty, staff, but more than that it brought together friends and those who came to honor late Richard and Loan Hill Professor and UIC Distinguished Professor Jie Liang.
This year’s event was held as a memorial symposium to honor his legacy and impact.
Liang was the founding director of CBQB and passed away in December 2024. The annual research day is also one of the earliest activities of the CBQB that Liang and his colleagues offered the community.
“Jie’s greatest legacy was really his time and treasure and investing in research and in our colleagues here at UIC and also in his family and his friendships,” said UIC Vice Chancellor for Research Joanna Groden. “He’s left behind a hole for many of us who knew him in part or all of his life, but I think it’s one that we honor by continuing his work and continuing to invest our time and our treasure in moving research forward.
Groden added that Liang’s curiosity, passion, and expertise as a researcher and director were reflected in his work as an educator and mentor.
She also noted that Liang helped forge the pathway in building a partnership with Argonne National Laboratory and UIC.
UIC College of Engineering Dean and BME Professor Lola Eniola-Adefeso said Liang was a visionary in computational biology whose pioneering research and mentorship profoundly shaped the field with the work he was always doing. His legacy not only lives in his work, but also his collaborative partnerships and relationships that he has championed.
Some of Liang’s collaborators, colleagues, and former students spoke during the symposium to share their memories of him and research.
Those speakers included: UIC Microbiology and Immunology Professor Amy Kenter, University of Missouri Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Curator’s Distinguished Professor Dong Xu, Stony Brook University Laufer Family Endowed Chair in Physical Biology Ken Dill, University of California-Irvine Mathematics and Developmental and Cell Biology Distinguished Professor Qing Nie, Iowa State University Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor Robert Jernigan, and University of California at San Diego Bioengineering, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Computer Science and Engineering, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Nano Engineering Distinguished Professor Shankar Subramaniam, and Columbia University Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics and New York Genome Center Core Faculty Member Gamze Gürsoy.
Many of the speakers touched on their working and personal relationships with Liang during their speeches. Nie talked about when Liang was a visiting scholar at the University of Minnesota. He reflected on the times he spent with Liang through research and spending time with both of their families.
Each of Liang’s last group of students also spoke about their research projects, the work they did in his lab, and their experiences working with Liang.
Clinical Assistant Professor and CBQB Assistant Associate Director Meishan Lin mentioned that this year’s symposium had high-quality speakers and the highest number of attendees yet.
“It was a beautiful event—very touching and inspiring to see the incredible impact of Dr. Liang’s life,” said BME PhD student Sarah McGuinness.
Subramaniam noted attending the symposium was an opportunity for him to reminisce on his memories with Liang and he wanted to honor Liang’s life and legacy by attending.
“The memorial meeting was very special, and I have spent many days thinking about it since,” BME PhD student Samantha Fisher said.
Liang’s wife also spoke during the symposium. She and Liang’s family established the Jie Liang Scientific Excellence Memorial Fund.
Liang’s contributions and his dedication are continued through the memorial fund.
In addition to a memorial service hosted this past winter and the symposium, BME Assistant Professor Bea Peñalver-Bernabé and Professor and Interim Director of the CBQB Yang Dai participated in the University of Illinois Cancer Center 5K Walk/Run in September. Lin also mentioned that Liang’s current and former students established a fund for a memorial garden plate at Liang’s local library, the River Forest Public Library, where Liang and his family resided for many years. A tree was also memorialized on the UIC campus near the Science and Engineering Offices building in Liang’s honor.
The symposium was succeeded held before by the Richard and Loan Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering’s 60th anniversary celebration in the new Computer Design Research and Learning Center building.
Winners from this year’s symposium include:
- First Place Poster Presentation: Alisha Budhathoki
- Second Place Poster Presentation: Varsha Sreekanth
- Third Place Poster Presentation: Lin Du
- Honorable Mentions include Sarah McGuinness and Samantha N. Fischer