Shih-Ching (Joyce) Lo
Associate Director Biogen
Shih Ching (Joyce) Lo, PhD is an Associate Scientific Director in the Neurology Research Unit at Biogen, where she leads multiple research program teams, working cross functionally with clinical, regulatory, and manufacturing organizations to advance programs from early hypothesis through IND enabling stages. Dr. Lo is responsible for shaping amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research strategy across multiple programs, including target selection, portfolio prioritization, and translational risk assessment, with a strong emphasis on integrating human evidence, disease biology, biomarkers, and preclinical data to drive investment and go/no go decisions. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri–Columbia and completed postdoctoral training in Neuroscience at Genentech. Dr. Lo has authored numerous peer reviewed publications and is passionate about doing innovative science.
Seminars
- How is spatial omics transforming our understanding of ALS pathology compared with traditional bulk tissue or single-cell approaches?
- Which emerging ALS targets or molecular pathways have been most compellingly revealed through spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, or multi-omic integration?
- How can spatial omics data be translated into actionable biomarkers for clinical trials, including patient stratification, early detection, or monitoring therapeutic response?
- What are the key technical, analytical, and interpretational challenges in applying spatial omics to human ALS tissue, and how are industry and academia addressing these?
- How do collaborative approaches between pharma, academic centers, and genome institutes accelerate the path from spatial omics discovery to drug development?
- Looking forward, what role will AI and machine learning play in extracting meaningful insights from complex spatial omics datasets in ALS?
- Overview of TDP-43 pathology as the central disease hallmark in the majority of ALS patients
- Current therapeutic approaches targeting TDP-43 loss of nuclear function
- Strategies aimed at mitigating toxic gain of function, aggregation, and cytoplasmic mislocalization
- Key lessons from the field, remaining translational challenges, and future directions for TDP-43–targeted therapies
