Peipei Ping, PhD, Joins the College as Chair of Biomedical Informatics

Peipei Ping, PhD, FAHA, FISHR, has joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix as professor with tenure and chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics, as well as chief AI and Data Science officer for the college. She previously held the distinction of UC distinguished professor at UCLA; she brings internationally recognized expertise spanning cardiovascular science, biomedical data integration and artificial intelligence-enabled translational research.

Her foundational work includes pioneering the cardioprotective signaling approach to functional phenotyping in the heart and advancing biomarker discovery.

“For more than two decades, Dr. Ping has been at the forefront of cardiovascular discovery, proteomics phenotyping and Big Data science,” said Dean Fred Wondisford, MD, MS, MBA. “As a leader in data-driven medicine, developing computational platforms that integrate multi-omics data, text mine clinical case reports and electronic health records — translating complex datasets into actionable knowledge through trustworthy AI approaches — her expertise will put the college at the forefront of emerging digital trends in health care.”

Dr. Ping's leadership extends to major national initiatives, including her current roles as principal investigator (PI) and program lead within the NIH Bridge2AI Center (2022-2026), as well as for the NIH Common Fund Data Ecosystem Integration and Coordination Sustainability Core (2024-2029). She previously served as PI/PD for NIH BD2K Center of Excellence for Biomedical Computing (2014–2019) and led multiple NHLBI-supported national and international consortia, including NHLBI PPG (2005-2010) and Proteomics Center (2010-2015) awards.

A dedicated educator, Dr. Ping has mentored more than 90 trainees across academia, industry and technology; taught biomedical data science for over two decades; and served as the inaugural chair of UCLA's Medical Informatics graduate curriculum committee. She also served as associate editor of Circulation and has received numerous honors in cardiovascular science and translational data science.

Dr. Ping assumed her new positions with the U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix in March 2026. Her return to Arizona brings her career full circle, as she earned her PhD in Cardiovascular Physiology at the U of A Tucson under the guidance of committee chair Prof. Paul Johnson and advisor members Profs. Janis Burt, Timothy Secomb and Thomas Burks. Previously, she received her BS in Biomedical Engineering and Math from Zhejiang University.

In her new leadership role at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, Dr. Ping will advance collaborative research Infrastructure and biomedical informatics.