Dr. Gong is a Principal Investigator with the Environmental Laboratory of U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He specializes in environmental genomics, bioinformatics, mechanistic and predictive toxicology, and molecular modelling. As a research biologist, he has initiated and led to completion more than ten military and civil works projects. Findings from these projects have greatly improved the fundamental and mechanistic understanding underlying the observed toxicities of military unique and other environmental contaminants. He also led the development of nine bioinformatics programs and pipelines. His current research interests focus on mode of action-guided predictive toxicology, genetic variations-induced herbicide resistance, epigenetics-driven transgenerational inheritance of phenotypic traits, and synthetic biology-based control of invasive species. And he applies the genetics, genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics and computational modeling approaches to develop novel biotechnologies that can solve environmental problems facing the Army, the Nation and the World, such as environmental hazard assessment of military materials, life-cycle risk assessment for military material acquisition, control of disease-vector mosquitoes, aquatic invasive plants and harmful algal blooms, conservation of endangered amphibians and the monarch butterfly, and bio-disposal/biotreatment of plastic wastes.Ping was a founding member of the Global Soils Advisory Group of SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) and served on its Steering Committee. He also served as associate graduate faculty in the University of Southern Mississippi and graduate committee member in East Carolina University, and has advised more than 18 PhD and MSc students. He has published over 75 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters and served on several editorial boards, including Frontiers in Genetics, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, and Korean Journal of Environmental Biology. Currently, he sits on the Board of Directors of MCBIOS (MidSouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society). He has chaired many conference sessions and has been selected as expert review panelist by ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry), Research Corporation’s Science Advancement Programs (Cottrell College Science Award), NSERC Collaborative Research and Development Program, Romanian National Council for Scientific Research, and Arizona Department of Health Services/Arizona Biomedical Research Commission.Ping earned a Bachelor‘s degree in Environmental Biology and Ecology from Peking University and a PhD in Environmental Toxicology from the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He completed his postdoc studies in the Technology University of Berlin (TU Berlin), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and Biotechnology Research Institute of National Research Council of Canada.
1) AKOGWU I., WANG N., ZHANG C.-Y. AND GONG P.* (2016): A comparative study of K-mer-spectrum based error correction methods for next-generation sequencing data analysis. Human Genomics 10(Suppl 2):20.2) HONG H., SHEN J., NG H.W., SAKKIAH S., YE H., GE W., GONG P., XIAO W., AND TONG W. (2016): Rat α-fetoprotein binding activity prediction model to facilitate assessment of endocrine disruption potential of environmental chemicals. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 13: 372.3) GONG P.* AND PERKINS E.P. (2016): Earthworm toxicogenomics: A renewed genome-wide quest for novel biomarkers and mechanistic insights. Applied Soil Ecology 104: 12-24.4) GONG P.*, NAN X., BARKER N.D., BOYD R.E., CHEN Y., WILKINS D., JOHNSON D.R., SUEDEL B.C. AND PERKINS E. J. (2016): Predicting chemical bioavailability using microarray gene expression data and regression modeling: A tale of three explosive compounds. BMC Genomics 17: 205.5) COLLIER Z.A., GUST K.A., GONZALEZ-MORALES B., GONG P., WILBANKS M.S., LINKOV I. AND PERKINS E.J. (2016) A weight of evidence assessment approach for adverse outcome pathways. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 75: 46-57.6) GUST K.A., COLLIER Z.A., MAYO M., STANLEY J.K., GONG P. AND CHAPPELL M. (2016): Limitations of toxicity characterization in life cycle assessment – Can adverse outcome pathways provide a new foundation? Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 12(3): 580-590.7) GONG P.*, HONG H., AND PERKINS E.P. (2015): Ionotropic GABA receptor antagonism-induced adverse outcome pathways for potential neurotoxicity biomarkers. Biomarkers in Medicine 9 (11): 1225-1239.8) KENNEDY A.J., LAIRD J.G., LOUNDS C., GONG P., BARKER N.D., BRASFIELD S.M., RUSSELL A. AND JOHNSON M.S. (2015): Inter- and intra-species chemical sensitivity: A case study using 2,4-dinitroanisole. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 34 (2): 402-411.9) PENG Y., MAXWELL A.S., BARKER N.D., LAIRD J.G., KENNEDY A.J., WANG N., ZHANG C.-Y.* AND GONG P.* (2014): SeqAssist: A novel toolkit for preliminary analysis of next-generation sequencing data. BMC Bioinformatics 15 (Suppl 11): S10.10) MCCONNELL E.R., BELL S.M., COTE I., WANG R.-L., PERKINS E.J., GARCIA-REYERO N., GONG P. AND BURGOON L.D. (2014): Systematic Omics Analysis Review Tool (SOAR) to support risk assessment. PLoS One 9(12): e110379.11) LI P., GONG P.*, LI H., PERKINS E.J., WANG N. AND ZHANG C-Y.* (2014): Gene regulatory network inference and validation using relative change ratio analysis and time-delayed dynamic Bayesian network. EURASIP Journal on Bioinformatics and Systems Biology 2014: 12.12) VAN OMMEN KLOEKE A.E.E., GONG P., ELLERS J. AND ROELOFS D. (2014): Effects of a natural toxin on life-history and gene expression of Eisenia andrei. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33(2): 412-420.13) YANG Y., MAXWELL A., ZHANG X., WANG N., PERKINS E. J., ZHANG C.-Y. AND GONG P.*, (2013): Differential reconstructed gene interaction networks for deriving toxicity threshold in chemical risk assessment. BMC Bioinformatics 14 (Suppl 14): S3.14) GONG P.*, GUAN X., PIROOZNIA M., LIANG C. AND PERKINS E.J. (2012): Gene expression analysis of CL-20-induced reversible neurotoxicity reveals GABAA receptors as potential targets in the earthworm Eisenia fetida. Environmental Science & Technology 46(2): 1223-32.15) NAN X., WANG N., GONG P., ZHANG C., CHEN, Y. AND WILKINS D. (2012): Biomarker discovery using 1-norm regularization for multi-class earthworm microarray gene expression data. Neurocomputing 92: 36-43.16) GONG P.*, LOH P.-R., BARKER N.D., TUCKER G., WANG N., ZHANG C., ESCALON B.L., BERGER B. AND PERKINS E.J. (2012): Building quantitative prediction models for tissue residue of two explosives compounds in earthworms from microarray gene expression data. Environmental Science & Technology 46 (1): 19-26.17) LI Y., GONG P.*, PERKINS E.J., ZHANG C. AND WANG N. (2011): RefNetBuilder: A platform for construction of integrated reference gene regulatory networks from expressed sequence tags. BMC Bioinformatics 12 (Suppl 8): S20.18) GARCIA-REYERO N., HABIB T., PIROOZNIA M., GUST K., GONG P., WARNER C., WILBANKS M. AND PERKINS E.J. (2011): Conserved toxic responses across divergent phylogenetic lineages: A Meta-analysis of the neurotoxic effects of RDX among multiple species using toxicogenomics. Ecotoxicology 20(3): 580-594.19) LI H., WANG N., GONG P., PERKINS E.J. AND ZHANG C. (2011): Learning the structure of gene regulatory networks from time series gene expression data. BMC Genomics 12 (Suppl 5), S13.20) WU X., LI P., WANG N., GONG P., PERKINS E.J., DENG Y. AND ZHANG C. (2011): State space model with hidden variables for reconstruction of gene regulatory networks. BMC Systems Biology 5 (Suppl 3): S3.21) CHAITANKAR V., ZHANG C., GHOSH P., GONG P., PERKINS E.J. AND DENG Y. (2011): Predictive Minimum Description Length Principle Approach to Inferring Gene Regulatory Networks. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 696: 37-43.22) LI Y., WANG N., PERKINS E.J., ZHANG C. AND GONG P.* (2010): Identification and optimization of classifier genes from multi-class earthworm microarray dataset. PLoS One 5 (10): e13715.23) CHAITANKAR V., GHOSH P., PERKINS E.J., GONG P. AND ZHANG C. (2010): Time lagged information theoretic approaches to the reverse engineering of gene regulatory networks. BMC Bioinformatics 11 (Suppl 6): S19.24) CHAITANKAR V., GHOSH P., PERKINS E.J., GONG P., DENG Y AND ZHANG C. (2010): A novel gene regulatory inference algorithm using predictive minimum description length approach. BMC Systems Biology 4 (Suppl 1): S7.25) GONG P.*, PIROOZNIA M., GUAN, X. AND PERKINS E.J. (2010): Design, validation and annotation of transcriptome-wide oligonucleotide probes for the oligochaete annelid Eisenia fetida. PLoS One 5(12):e14266.26) GONG P.*, XIE F., ZHANG, B. AND PERKINS E.J. (2010): In silico identification of conserved microRNAs and their target transcripts from expressed sequence tags of three earthworm species. Computational Biology and Chemistry 34: 313-319.27) GONG P.*, BASU N., SCHEUHAMMER A.M. AND PERKINS E.J. (2010): Neurochemical and electrophysiological diagnosis of reversible neurotoxicity in earthworms exposed to sublethal concentrations of CL-20. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 17 (1): 181-186.28) BANNON D. I., JOHNSON M., WILLIAMS L., ADAMS V., PERKINS E.J., GUST K.A. AND GONG P. (2009): RDX and miRNA expression in B6C3F1 mice. Environmental Health Perspectives 117 (3): A98.29) GUST K.A., PIROOZNIA M., QUINN M.J. JR., JOHNSON M.S., ESCALON B.L., INDEST K.J., GUAN X., CLARKE J., DENG Y., GONG P. AND PERKINS E.J. (2009): Neurotoxicogenomic investigations to assess mechanisms of action of the munitions constituents RDX and 2,6-DNT in Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Toxicological Sciences 110 (1): 168-180.30) PIROOZNIA M., GONG P., YANG J.Y., YANG M.Q., PERKINS E.J. AND DENG Y. (2008): ILOOP – A web application for two-channel microarray interwoven loop design. BMC Genomics 9 (Suppl 2): S11.31) GONG P.*, GUAN X., INOUYE L.S., DENG Y., PIROOZNIA M. AND PERKINS E.J. (2008): Transcriptomic analysis of RDX and TNT interactive sublethal effects in the earthworm Eisenia fetida. BMC Genomics 9 (Suppl 1): S15.32) GONG P.*, ESCALON L., HAYES C.A. AND PERKINS E.J. (2008): Uptake of hexanitrohexa-azaisowurtzitane (CL-20) by the earthworm Eisenia fetida through dermal contact. Science of the Total Environment 390 (1): 295-299.33) GONG P.*, GUAN X., INOUYE L.S., PIROOZNIA M., INDEST K.J., ATHOW R.S., DENG Y. AND PERKINS E.J. (2007): Toxicogenomic analysis provides new insights into molecular mechanisms of the sublethal toxicity of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in Eisenia fetida. Environmental Science & Technology 41 (23): 8195-8202.34) PIROOZNIA M., GONG P.*, GUAN X., INOUYE L.S., YANG K., PERKINS E.J. AND DENG Y.* (2007): Cloning, analysis and functional annotation of expressed sequence tags from the earthworm Eisenia fetida. BMC Bioinformatics 8 (Suppl 7): S7.35) LI P., ZHANG C., PERKINS E.J., GONG P. AND DENG Y. (2007): Comparison of probabilistic Boolean network and dynamic Bayesian network approaches for inferring gene regulatory networks. BMC Bioinformatics 8 (Suppl 7): S13.36) GONG P.*, INOUYE L.S. AND PERKINS E.J. (2007): Comparative neurotoxicity of two energetic compounds, hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine, in the earthworm Eisenia fetida. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 26 (5): 954-959.37) SONG Y.-F., GONG P., WILKE B.-M., ZHANG W., SONG X.-Y., SUN T.-H. AND ACKLAND M.-L. (2007): Genotoxicity assessment of soils from wastewater irrigation areas and bioremediation sites using Vicia faba root tip micronucleus assay. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 9 (2): 182-186.38) ZHANG W., SONG Y.-F., GONG P., SUN T.-H. AND LIU M. (2006): Earthworm cytochrome P450 determination and application as a biomarker for diagnosing PAH exposure. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 8 (9): 963-967.39) SONG Y.-F., WILKE B.-M., SONG X.-Y., GONG P., ZHOU Q.-X. AND YANG G.-F. (2006): Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyles (PCBs) and heavy metals (HMs) as well as their genotoxicity in soil after long-term wastewater irrigation. Chemosphere 65 (10): 1859-1868.40) ROCHELEAU S., KUPERMAN R.G., MARTEL M., PAQUET L., BARDAI G., WONG S., SARRAZIN M., DODARD S., GONG P., HAWARI J., CHEKAI R.T. AND SUNAHARA G.I. (2006): Phytotoxicity of nitroaromatic energetic compounds freshly amended or weathered and aged in sandy loam soil. Chemosphere 62 (4): 545-558.41) WILKE B.-M., MAI M., GATTINGER A., SCHLOTER M. AND GONG P. (2005): Effects of fresh and aged copper contaminations on soil micro-organisms. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 168: 668-675.42) DODARD S.G., SUNAHARA G.I., KUPERMAN, R.G., SARRAZIN M., GONG P., AMPLEMAN G., THIBOUTOT S. AND HAWARI J. (2005): Survival and reproduction of Enchytraeid worms, Oligochaeta, in different soil types amended with energetic cyclic nitramines. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 24 (10): 2579-2587.43) BARDAI G., SUNAHARA G.I., SPEAR P., MARTEL M., GONG P. AND HAWARI J. (2005): Effects of dietary administration of CL-20 on Japanese quail Coturnix coturnix japonica. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 49: 215-222.44) SONG Y.-F, ZHOU Q.-X., GONG P. AND SUN T.-H. (2005): Ecotoxicity of soils contaminated with industrial and domestic wastewater in western Shenyang, China. Science in China Series C-Life Sciences 48 (Suppl I): 48-56.45) SONG Y.-F, GONG P., ZHOU Q.-X. AND SUN T.-H. (2005): Phytotoxicity assessment of phenanthrene, pyrene and their mixtures by a soil-based seedling emergence test. Journal of Environmental Sciences-China 17 (4): 580-583.46) GONG P.*, SUNAHARA G.I., ROCHELEAU S., DODARD S., ROBIDOUX P.Y. AND HAWARI J. (2004): Preliminary ecotoxicological characterization of a new energetic substance, CL-20. Chemosphere 56 (7): 653-658.47) ROBIDOUX P.Y., GONG P., SARRAZIN M., BARDAI G., PAQUET L., HAWARI J., DUBOIS C. AND SUNAHARA G.I. (2004): Toxicity assessment of contaminated soils from an antitank firing range. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 58 (3): 300-313.48) ROBIDOUX P.Y., SUNAHARA G.I., SAVARD K., BERTHELOT Y., DODARD S., MARTEL M., GONG P. AND HAWARI J. (2004): Acute and chronic toxicity of the new explosive CL-20 to the earthworm (Eisenia andrei) exposed to amended natural soils. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 23 (4): 1026–1034.49) WILKE B.-M., GATTINGER A., FRÖHLICH E., ZELLES L. AND GONG P. (2004): Phospholipid fatty acid composition of a 2,4,6-trinitrotolune contaminated soil and an uncontaminated soil as affected by a humification remediation process. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 36 (4): 725-729.50) GONG P.*, KUPERMAN R.G. AND SUNAHARA G.I. (2003): Genotoxicity of 2,4- and 2,6-dinitrotoluene as measured by the Tradescantia microcunleus (Trad-MCN) assay. Mutation Research/ Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis 538 (1-2): 13-18.51) GONG P.*, SICILIANO S. D., SRIVASTAVA S., GREER C. W. AND SUNAHARA G. I. (2002): Assessing pollution-induced microbial community tolerance to heavy metals in soil using ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and Biolog assay. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 8 (5): 1067-1081.52) GONG P.*, HAWARI J., THIBOUTOT S., AMPLEMAN G. AND SUNAHARA G. I. (2002): Toxicity of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) to soil microbes. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 69 (1): 97-103.53) SONG Y., ZHOU Q., XU H., REN L., AND GONG P. (2002): Eco-toxicology of heavy metals on the inhibition of seed germination and root elongation of wheat in soils. Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao [The Journal of Applied Ecology] 13: 459-462. [in Chinese]54) SONG Y., ZHOU Q., XU H., REN L., SUN T., AND GONG P. (2002): Acute toxicological effects of heavy metal pollution in soils on earthworms. Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao [The Journal of Applied Ecology] 13: 187-190. [in Chinese]55) SONG Y., XU H., REN L., GONG P., ZHOU Q. (2002): Eco-toxicological effects of heavy metals on the inhibition of seed germination and root elongation of Chinese cabbages in soils. Huan Jing Ke Xue [Environmental Science] 23: 103-107. [in Chinese]56) GONG P.*, GUAN X. AND WITTER E. (2001): A rapid method to extract ergosterol from soil by physical disruption. Applied Soil Ecology 17 (3): 285-289.57) GONG P.*, HAWARI J., THIBOUTOT S., AMPLEMAN G. AND SUNAHARA G. I. (2001): Ecotoxicological effects of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) on soil microbial activities. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 20 (5): 947-951.58) GONG P.*, WILKE B.-M., STROZZI E. AND FLEISCHMANN S. (2001): Evaluation and refinement of a continuous seed germination and early seedling growth test for the use in the ecotoxicological assessment of soils. Chemosphere 44 (3): 491-500.59) GONG P.*, GASPARRINI P., RHO D., HAWARI J., THIBOUTOT S., AMPLEMAN G. AND SUNAHARA G.I. (2000): An in situ respirometric technique to measure pollution-induced microbial community tolerance in soils contaminated with 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 47 (1): 96-103.60) WITTER E., GONG P., BÅÅTH E. AND MARSTORP H. (2000): A study of the structure and metal tolerance of the soil microbial community 6 years after cessation of sewage sludge applications. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 19 (8): 1983-1991.61) SICILIANO S. D., GONG P., SUNAHARA G. I. AND GREER C. W. (2000): Assessment of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene toxicity in field soils by pollution induced community tolerance (PICT), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and seed germination assay. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 19 (8): 2154-2160.62) MARSTORP H., GUAN X. AND GONG P. (2000): Relationship between dsDNA, chloroform labile C and ergosterol in soils of different organic matter contents and pH. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 32 (6): 879-882.63) GONG P.*, SICILIANO S. D., GREER C. W., PAQUET L., HAWARI J. AND SUNAHARA G. I. (1999): Effects and bioavailability of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in spiked and field-contaminated soils to indigenous microorganisms. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 18 (12): 2681-2688.64) GONG P.*, WILKE B.-M. AND FLEISCHMANN S. (1999): Soil-based phytotoxicity of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene to higher plants. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 36 (2): 152-157.65) GONG P.*, SUN T.-H., BEUDERT G. AND HAHN H.H. (1997): Ecological effects of combined organic or inorganic pollution on soil microbial activities. Water, Air and Soil Pollution 96 (1): 133-143.66) GONG P.* (1997): Dehydrogenase activity in soil: A comparison between the TTC and INT assay under their optimum conditions. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 29 (2): 211-214.67) GONG P.* AND SUN T.-H. (1996): Ecological engineering land treatment systems: a new development in China. Journal of Environmental Sciences-China 8 (3): 341-353.68) GONG P.*, SUN T.-H., BEUDERT G. AND HAHN H.H. (1996): Side-effects of organic and inorganic pollutants on soil nitrification and respiration. Journal of Environmental Sciences-China 8 (1): 66-76.69) SONG Y.-F., SUN T.-H., GONG P. AND CHANG S.-J. (1994): Resourceful ecological treatment of wastewater in urban ecosystem. Journal of Environmental Sciences-China 6 (4): 487-495.
