ICSA Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch
ICSA Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch
Date: June 15, 2026 @ 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET (Lunch Hour)
Location: In-person at the 2026 ICSA Applied Statistics Symposium
Format: Structured rotating roundtable mentoring over a complimentary lunch (3 rotations × 20 min)
Mentors: Naitee Ting, Rong Liu, Margaret Gamalo, Ziqian Geng and Grace Li
Target Audience: Students and early-career statisticians interested in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry
Registration: Register for both the ICSA 2026 Symposium and the Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Complimentary Lunch session via this link: https://symposium2026.icsa.org/registration/
About the Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch:
The ICSA Applied Statistics Symposium proudly presents the Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch Program, an interactive in-person session designed to foster career guidance, networking, and knowledge sharing between students, early-career statisticians, and experienced professionals in the pharmaceutical and biostatistics fields. During the 65-minute lunch hour, mentees will rotate between tables hosted by 2–3 senior statisticians, allowing exposure to multiple mentors. A complimentary lunch will be provided for all registered participants.
Discussion Topics May Include:
- Career development and advancement in pharmaceutical statistics
- Transitioning from academia to industry
- Day-to-day work in biopharma and biotech organizations
- Regulatory submissions and cross-functional collaboration
- Emerging trends: real-world evidence, Bayesian methods, AI/ML in clinical trials
About the Mentors:
• Naitee Ting: Naitee is a Fellow of ASA; he received the Mentoring Award from ASA in 2025. Naitee has 37 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and is currently retired. He received his Ph.D. in Statistics from Colorado State University in 1987.
• Rong Liu: Rong Liu is an Executive Director at Eli Lilly and Company, where she leads global statistical strategy for multiple incretin-based diabetes programs. With more than 15 years at Lilly, Rong oversees teams supporting late-stage drug development and plays a critical role in advancing innovative therapies for metabolic diseases. She holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from The Pennsylvania State University and is recognized for her leadership in applying rigorous quantitative science to improve patient outcomes worldwide.
• Margaret (Meg) Gamalo: Meg is the VP and Statistics Head for Inflammation, Immunology & Specialty Care at Pfizer, with extensive expertise in biostatistics, regulatory science, and clinical development across adult and pediatric populations. Prior to Pfizer, she held roles as a Research Advisor at Eli Lilly and Mathematical Statistician at the FDA. Meg is an ASA Fellow, recognized for her outstanding contributions to statistical science.
• Ziqian Geng: Ziqian Geng is Senior Director & Statistics TA Head of Immunology Late Programs at AbbVie. He received his PhD in Biostatistics from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 2014 with 12+ years of clinical development experience at AbbVie. During the past years, Ziqian focused on late-stage clinical development in various disease areas in immunology with increasing responsibilities. He has led and overseen multiple assets development, regulatory submissions, approvals and launch in AbbVie brands including Humira, Rinvoq and Skyrizi. Ziqian is also passionate about innovative clinical trial designs and novel analysis methods.
• Grace Li: Grace is Senior Director of the Statistical Innovation Center at Eli Lilly and Company, where she leads advances in statistical methodology and oversees biopharmaceutical portfolio delivery across therapeutic areas. She also co-chairs the IQ Consortium CPLG Bioequivalence Working Group, shaping industry methodology and bioequivalence strategy. Her primary interests include Bayesian methods, drug development strategy, and the application of AI to study design.