2026 AR-BIC: Transformative Technologies: Paving the Way for a Brighter Future

FDA’s AI Programs: Challenges and Opportunities

Presenter

Tucker Patterson, Ph.D.
Director, FDA/National Center for Toxicological Research

From Exploratory- to Evidence-Based AI

Presenter

Thomas Hartung, Ph.D.
Chair, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Konstanz, Germany

Accelerating the Next-Generation of Risk Assessment (NGRA) Paradigm Shift: AI-Augmented, Weight of Evidence (WoE) Frameworks for Chemical Safety Assessment

Presenter

Dr. Alistair Middleton, Ph.D.
Science Leader in Computational Toxicology
Unilever Safety, Environmental and Regulatory Science Group

Healthcare in GenAI Era: Challenges and Opportunities

Presenter

May Wang, Ph.D.
Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Emory University

Breakfast and Roundtable Discussions

Join us for one of two breakfast roundtable discussions happening simultaneously. Choose between Getting into Grad School or Getting into Med School. Both feature UAMS admissions leaders ready to answer your questions.

Breakfast will be available for all attendees during this time.

Getting Into Grad School

Sean Taverna, Ph.D.
Dean, UAMS Graduate School

Latrina Prince, Ed.D.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, UAMS

Getting into Med School

James Graham, M.D.
Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Medicine, UAMS

Amy Widner
Medical School Recruiting Director, UAMS

Generative AI for Drug Safety and Toxicology

AI encompasses two main application categories: predictive and generative. Predictive algorithms utilize existing data to forecast future outcomes, whereas generative algorithms generate new data through AI-driven learning. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), exemplified by technologies like ChatGPT, has captured public attention with its vast potential across various fields. The wide range of Generative AI (GenAI) approaches offers unprecedented opportunities for enhancing strategies to predict toxicity. This session will showcase examples from FDA/NCTR projects in GenAI using the wide range of GenAI approaches to evaluate drug safety and toxicology.

The topics will include:
1. Using LLMs for toxicity classification;
2. Learning from existing animal study data to generate animal study results without conducting actual experiments;
3. Developing knowledge-based prediction with GenAI;
4. Translate findings from one organ to another.

Co-Chairs

Weida Tong
Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, FDA/NCTR

Leihong Wu
Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, FDA/NCTR

Presenters

Leihong Wu
Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, FDA/NCTR
Adverse Event (AE) Classification with GenAI

Mansi Chandra
Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, FDA/NCTR
GenAI-Assisted In Vitro to In Vivo Extrapolation of Toxicogenomics Data

Xi Chen
Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, FDA/NCTR
Development of Virtual Animal Models with GenAI

Dongying Li
Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, FDA/NCTR
GenAI-Driven Methods for Drug Safety Assessment

Next Generation Sequencing Approaches Across the Biological Spectrum

This session will explore next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and their applications across the biological spectrum. Session speakers have extensive experience using a range of sequencing platforms for different uses including the study of microbial organisms as well as understanding the role of genetic mutations in human diseases including cancer and genetic disorders.

Co-Chairs

Steven Foley
FDA/NCTR

Douglas Rhoads
University Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology

Presenters

Douglas Rhoads
University Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology
Pangenome Anaylses of Specific Traits of Bacterial Pathogens in Broiler Chickens: Current Technologies and How AI Could Help

David Ussery
Oklahoma State University
The Democratization of NGS via Nanopore Sequencing and Its Portability

Javier Revollo
FDA National Center for Toxicological Research
Approaches for Error-Corrected NGS to Assess Genetic Mutations

AI’s Impact on Teaching in the Land of Opportunity – Past, Present and Future

In this session, we will discuss the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in university education in Arkansas and beyond. Artificial intelligence has quietly reshaped education for decades and is now doing so loudly. This session pairs a retrospective on 40 years of teaching machine learning in bioinformatics with a forward-looking assessment of generative AI’s promises and pitfalls across statistics, data science, and the broader sciences. Together, the talks offer both historical depth and current urgency, exploring what works, what doesn’t, and what educators should do next. A moderated Q&A closes the session, turning the conversation over to the audience for the part AI can’t do i.e., genuine, unscripted dialogue.

Co-Chairs

James Roddy
Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas

Aakash Bhattacharyya
Little Rock Central High School

Presenters

David Ussery
Professor, Oklahoma State University
Decoding Life: 40 Years of Teaching About Using Machine Learning in Bioinformatics

Samantha Robinson
Associate Professor, University of Arkansas/University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
The Newly Generated Classroom: Promise, Peril, and Pragmatism in Statistics, Data Science, and Science Education

James Roddy
Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas
What Comes Next? A Moderated Q&A on AI and the Future of Learning

From Cells to Populations: Integrating Omics, Bioinformatics, and Novel Alternative Methods (NAMs) in Respiratory Toxicology

This breakout session aims to bring together cutting-edge advances in respiratory toxicology to bridge the gap between experimental systems and real-world human relevance. Through interactive exploration of the capabilities available at the Institute Innovative and Integrative Health (I³R), University of Arkansas, discussions on implementing NAMs within exposure systems under GLP frameworks, and a Population-Bench-Population approach integrating omics and bioinformatics, the session will highlight pathways for translating innovation into practice and deployment. Emphasis will be placed on enabling academia-industry collaboration and advancing regulatory-ready, human-relevant solutions for inhalation science.

Chair

Koustav Ganguly, Ph.D., ERT, PGDM (IT), Docent.
Research Professor, Institute for Innovative and Integrative Research (I³R)

Presenters

Prashanth Ravishankar, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Institute for Innovative and Integrative Research (I³R)
Interactive Session: Exploring I³R Capabilities and Fostering Academia-Industry Collaboration

Swapna Upadhyay, Ph.D., ERT, Docent.
Director of Pre-Clinical Sciences, Institute for Innovative and Integrative Research (I³R)
Translating NAMs to Practice: Exposure Systems, GLP, and Regulatory Readiness

Koustav Ganguly, Ph.D., ERT, PGDM (IT), Docent.
Research Professor, Institute for Innovative and Integrative Research (I³R), University of Arkansas
A Population-Bench-Population Framework Integrating Omics, Bioinformatics, and NAMs in Respiratory Toxicology

AI-Derived Digital Twins for Clinical Trials

Presenter

Viswanath Devanarayan, Ph.D.
Head of Data Sciences & Advanced Analytics, Bristol Myers Squibb

Integrating LLMs to Enhance Regulatory Review

Presenter

Joshua Xu, Ph.D.
Branch Chief for Research-to-Review and Return (R2R), Division of Bioinformatics (DBB), NCTR/FDA