LiRong Wang

LiRong Wang is an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh. He is affiliated with the Computational Chemical Genomics Screening (CCGS) Center (http://www.cbligand.org/CCGS/). Dr. Wang obtained his PhD from the University of Science and Technology of China and completed postdoctoral training under Dr. Xiang-Qun Xie at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. His roles include serving as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Big Data and Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence (Medicine and Public Health sections), and reviewer for multiple journals including AAPS Journal and JCIM.

Education: PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Science and Technology of China. Postdoctoral training at University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy under Dr. Xiang-Qun Xie.

Research focuses on machine/deep learning applications in electronic medical records analysis, clinical trial emulation, and chemogenomics/chemoinformatics tool development. Key interests include target identification for neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury (TBI), as well as mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders. He has developed tools like DeepBiomarker, TargetHunter, and BBB Predictor, emphasizing systems pharmacology and drug discovery.

His recent articles highlight trends in AI-driven mental health risk prediction, synapse biology in neurodegeneration, and computational drug repurposing strategies. For example, studies on vitamin D’s effects on Alzheimer’s psychosis and antihypertensive-cholinesterase inhibitor synergies in Alzheimer’s treatment reflect his integrative approach combining clinical data and molecular mechanisms.

• R01MH116046 (mPI): Evaluates synaptic protein compensations and novel medications for Alzheimer’s psychosis.
• Eli Lilly Grant (PI): Mines raw medical notes to study heart failure outcomes.
• RTI Subcontract (subcontract PI): Uses EMR data to identify medications for PTSD+ASUD comorbidity.

Labs/Teams: Active in the CCGS Center and collaborates with AlzPlatform, a domain-specific chemogenomics knowledgebase. Dr. Wang’s work intersects computational tools, clinical data analytics, and experimental validation in drug discovery.