Youyi Peng

Director of AI Discovery @ Tonix Pharmaceuticals

About

A scientist with over 20+ years of experience in AI/ML and computer-aided drug design (CADD), spanning all stages of R&D from target discovery to clinical candidate optimization.

Country

United States

City

New York City Metropolitan Area

Industry

Pharmaceuticals

Skill

Medicinal Chemistry, Biomedical Informatics, Translational Research, Ligand-based drug design, Life Sciences, Pharmacology, Structure-based drug design, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Bioinformatics, Drug Design, Chemistry, Cheminformatics, Docking, Organic Chemistry, QSAR, Virtual Screening, Data Management, Drug Discovery

Experience

Director of AI Discovery

Tonix Pharmaceuticals

2026-1 - Present · 9 mos

Adjunct Faculty / Course Instructor, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy

Rutgers University

2020-1 - Present · 6 yrs 9 mos

Piscataway, NJ

• Teaching graduate-level courses and cover topics in computer-aided and AI/ML-driven drug design.

Senior Bioinformatics Specialist, Cancer Institute of New Jersey

Rutgers University

2019-2 - 2025-3 · 6 yrs 2 mos

• Led the Cheminformatics Division of the Biomedical Informatics Shared Resource, developing and computer-aided and ML-driven drug discovery approaches for translational research. • Achieved multiple technology licensing agreements with investors and pharma/biotech partners.

Adjunct Faculty / Course Instructor, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Rutgers University

2019-1 - 2021-5 · 2 yrs 5 mos

Piscataway, NJ

• Taught graduate-level courses and cover topics in computer-aided and AI/ML-driven drug design.

Bioinformatics Specialist, Cancer Institute of New Jersey

Rutgers University

2015-3 - 2019-2 · 4 yrs

New Brunswick, NJ

Scientific Co-Founder

TamRx

2018-12 - 2020-11 · 2 yrs

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

Scientist III

Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc (Acquired by Johnson & Johnson in January 2025 for $14.6 Billion)

2005-11 - 2015-3 · 9 yrs 5 mos

• Established informatics workflows to acquire, organize, and manage compound libraries. • Developed and applied CADD approaches to programs targeting GPCRs, ion channels, kinases, phosphatases, and phosphodiesterases. • Contributed to the development of Caplyta® (approved for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and clinical-stage PDE1 inhibitor lenrispodun (Phase I/II trials for Parkinson’s Disease).