Advancing Leadership and Scholarship: Academic Freedom and Collaboration in Action

2025 Annual Meeting and Joint Conference with the Asian/Asian-American Faculty & Staff Association at UConn

October 4th, 2025

The Grossman Auditorium, 400 Farmington Ave, Farmington, CT 06032

Open to professors, researchers, students, and industry professionals

Registration Form

https://forms.gle/pHGqV9Mn4fQrmJRv6 

Anne D'Alleva

William Tong

Haifan Lin

Ted Yang

Bruce Liang

Xi Chen

Cuihong Li

Xiaomei Cong

Yongli Zhang

Zhan Li

Jing Yan

Thanh Duc Nguyen

Shue Wang

Xi Chen

Qin Yan

Penghua Wang

Lily (Yingcui) Li

Mingyu Qiao

Yvonne Zhao

Min Yi

Amit Kumar

Dequan Xiao

08:30 – 09:00      Check-in and member enrollment

Greetings

09:00 – 09:10      Welcome by Xi Chen, CAPA President and

Cuihong Li, President of UConn's Asian/Asian-American Faculty & Staff

Opening Remark

09:15 – 09:30      Dr. Anne D'Alleva, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Connecticut / President of Binghamton University

Keynote

09:30 – 10:15     Haifan Lin, Eugen Higgins Professor of Cell Biology, Yale School of Medicine

Director of Yale Stem Cell Center

President, Federation of Asian Professor Associations

10:15 – 10:30      Coffee/Tea Break/group photo

Panel: Leadership and Career Advancement in Academia

10:30 – 11:45  

Moderator: Xiaomei Cong, Associate Dean of Research, Yale Nursing School

Bruce Liang, Dean, University of Connecticut School of Medicine

Dequan Xiao, Chair, Chemistry and Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Department, University of New Haven

Zhan Li, Dean, Fairfield University, Dolan School of Business  

11:45 – 12:30      William Tong, J.D., the CT Attorney General

12:00 – 1:30       Lunch and Social, Product introduction by sponsor companies.

Keynote

1:30 – 2:00      Ted Yang, Regent, CT State Colleges and Universities.  

Panel: Strategies for Funding Applications

 2:00 – 3:20

Moderator: Jing Yan, Department of Cellular & Developmental Biology, Yale University

2:00 – 2:15 

“Diversifying grant portfolio in a challenging funding landscape”

Qin Yan, Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine

2:15 – 2:30 

“Current funding situation and climate for public health researcher and academia”

Xi Chen, Public Health and Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University

2:30 – 2:45      

"How to write a winnable research grant, a perspective for NIH grant review process "

Thanh D. Nguyen, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UConn

2:45 - 3:00

“Maximizing Funding Opportunities for Non-R1 Institutions”

Shue Wang, Chemistry and Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Department, University of New Haven

3:00 – 3:20       Panel discussion

3:15 – 3:30         Coffee/Tea Break

Panel: Research to Reality: Pathways to Entrepreneurship

3:30 – 4:30        

Moderator: Penghua Wang, Associate Professor of the Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, UConn Health

Lily Li, Ph.D., President of The Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA) in Connecticut

“University Technology Entrepreneurship: A Fresh Perspective”

Mingyu Qiao, Assistant Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Department of Nutritional Sciences, UConn College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources

Panel Discussion

Yvonne Zhao, Regional Innovation Officer, CT Department of Economic Community Development.

Amit Kumar, Ph.D, Senior Director of Licensing, UConn. 

Min Yi, President, Boston Capital Investment Club

Mingyu Qiao, Assistant Professor of Innovation and

Entrepreneurship, Department of Nutritional Sciences, UConn College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources.

4:30 – 4:45         Closing remark, Yongli Zhang, Department of Cell Biology, Yale, President, Asian Faculty Association at Yale (AFAY), CAPA-CT VP.

4:45 – 5:15         CAPA-CT Board Business Meeting

Conference organization committee: Xi Chen, Yongli Zhang, Xinyi Lu, Miaowei Weng, Yanhua Yang, Qian Wu, Jing Yan, Ting Zhou, Zuohong Pan, Chong Qiu, Wang Penghua, Grace Chun Guo. Cuihong Li

The CAPA-CT Board wants to express deep gratitude for Dr. Riqiang Yan, (Chair of Neuroscience Department) and Bruce Liang (Dean of School of Medicine) at UConn Health  and all others who have made contributions and assistance to the conference.

The Conference is sponsored in part by AMPSEQ and Singleron Biotechnologies 

Registration Form

Nomination Form