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Bioinformatics Research Center

BIG 2026

Bioinformatics, AI, & Genomics (BIG): Celebrate 25 years of innovation, collaboration, and impact at the Bioinformatics Research Center & the future with AI.

Free Registration

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 * 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

The Bioinformatics, AI, and Genomics (BIG) Conference marks the 25th anniversary of the Bioinformatics Research Center (BRC) at NC State University. This landmark event brings together the world’s leading architects of sequence analysis to address a singular truth: Modern biology is unimaginable without the rigorous statistical foundations and sustainable computational toolkits developed within this community.

Witherspoon Student Center – Washington Sankofa Room (room 126)

North Carolina State University, 2810 Cates Ave, Raleigh, NC 27606

Free Registration

Schedule

  • 8:30–9:00 a.m. Check-in & Networking
  • 9:00–9:15 a.m. Welcome to BIG 2026 Bonnie Hurwitz, PhD — Director, Bioinformatics Research Center (BRC), NC State University; Lex Kemper, PhD — Associate Dean of Research, College of Sciences, NC State University
  • 9:15–10:00 a.m. Keynote Address Allison Motsinger-Reif, PhD — Chief & Principal Investigator, Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, NIEHS Talk: From NC State to NIEHS: Leading the Interdisciplinary Revolution in Environmental Health
  • 10:00–10:15 a.m. Coffee Break
  • 10:15–10:35 a.m. David Aylor, PhD — Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, NC State University; BRC Faculty Member: “What the BRC Built: A Personal Account of a Shared Legacy”
  • 10:35–10:55 a.m. Louis-Marie Bobay, PhD – Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, NC State University; BRC Assistant Director: “Current Research at the BRC: Deciphering the Microbial Mosaic”
  • 10:55–11:15 a.m. Grant Billings, PhD — Research Scholar, Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, NC State University; BRC Alumni: “The Multiple Genome Era: How we are using pangenomes to advance cotton breeding”
  • 11:15–11:30 a.m. Break
  • 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Industry Panel: Transformation of Genomics and Statistics with AI
    • Moderator: Xinxia Peng, PhD — Professor, Molecular Biomedical Sciences, NC State University; BRC Faculty Member
    • Panelists:
      • Upendra Kumar Divisetty — GreenLight Biosciences
      • Kevin Donohue, PhD — Syngenta
      • Meichen Dong, PhD — JMP
  • 12:15–1:15 p.m. Lunch & History of the BRC
    • Spencer Muse, PhD — Professor of Statistics, Director of Bioinformatics Graduate Program, NC State University; BRC Faculty Member
    • Special Guest: Bruce Weir, PhD — Inaugural Director, Bioinformatics Research Center
  • 1:15–2:00 p.m. Keynote Address Lisa McFerrin, PhD — Worldwide Lead, Research, Discovery & Translational Medicine, Amazon Web Services (AWS): Bioinformatics at Speed: Redefining Research Infrastructure and Precision Medicine in the Cloud
  • 2:00–2:45 p.m. – Student Panel: BRC Basepair — Sharpen Your Stack
    • Moderators (Recent Bioinformatics Graduate Program Alumni 2026):
      • Dereje Jima, PhD — Wright Lab
    • Panelists (Current Bioinformatics Graduate Students):
      • Dylan Hermosillo — Hurwitz Lab
      • Jacob Grodeon — Baker Lab
      • Spencer Toth — Callahan Lab
  • 2:45–3:00 p.m. Coffee Break & Group Photo
  • 3:00–4:00 p.m. Student Poster Session & Networking

Keynote Speaker: Allison Motsinger-Reif

Chief & Principal Investigator, Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, NIEHS

Alison Motsinger-Reif, PhD, is Chief and Principal Investigator in the Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Her research focuses on developing statistical and computational methods to better understand the genetic and environmental factors underlying complex diseases. Her work integrates genomics, metabolomics, environmental exposure data, and pharmacogenomics to advance precision medicine and gene-environment interaction research. She also serves as Co-Principal Investigator of the Personalized Environment and Genes Study (PEGS), a North Carolina-based cohort study focused on exposome and population health research.

Keynote Speaker: Lisa McFerrin

Worldwide Lead, Research, Discovery & Translational Medicine, Amazon Web Services

Lisa McFerrin is the WW Lead for HCLS Strategy & Solutions for Research, Discovery, and Translational Medicine at AWS. Lisa has a background in math and computer science and a PhD in Bioinformatics, with over 15 years experience in software and methods that bridges biomedical data to advance the understanding of cancer biology and improve patient care. She is dedicated to lowering barriers in data analysis to facilitate collaborative and reproducible research.

For More Information

Contact Julia Reynolds, University Associate, Bioinformatics Research Center at (joreynol@ncsu.edu)