Dong is a medicinal chemist with over 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development. As Assistant Vice President of Medicinal Chemist, he leads broad chemistry efforts at SEED, including HTS library evaluation/selection, hit ID/confirmation, compounds design/optimization, new platforms (AL/ML, etc.) and CMC support of clinical candidates. He specializes in hit generation, hit-to-lead, and lead optimization, leveraging structure-based drug design (SBDD) and multiparameter optimization strategies.
Prior to SEED, he served as Director of Medicinal Chemistry at WuXi AppTec, Associate Director of Chemistry at Eternity Bioscience. Dong contributed to 11 IND-enabling candidates across seven oncology and autoimmune programs, with three novel chemical entities (NCEs) advancing into clinical trials. Earlier in his career, he played a key role in the discovery of two approved HCV drugs at Enanta Pharmaceuticals. Dong holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago.