Dr. Li is an expert on tumors. He studies methods for detecting and treating cancers, and he also works to gain a deeper understanding of tumor biology. Additionally, Dr. Li focuses on tumor immunology. He examines the role of the body’s immune system in the development and progression of cancer and investigates ways in which the immune system could be used to fight this lethal disease.

Dr. Li established a novel clinically relevant murine model, which reflects the typical features of human hepatocellular cancer (HCC). Using this unique model, his team dissects the complex dialog occurring between host immunity and tumor microenvironment during tumor initiation and progression. Leveraging these findings, they developed several immunotherapeutic strategies against this lethal disease and demonstrated their efficacy such as 1) monotherapy with anti-PD1 antibodies; 2) targeting tumor-associated macrophages in combination of anti-PD-1; and 3) targeting regulatory T cells (Tregs) in combination with anti-PD-1. The results will or have been published in Gastroenterology (2017, accepted, IF-18.1), OncoImmunology (2017, IF-7.7), Journal of Hepatology (2016, IF-12.5), and Hepatology (2012, IF-12.0) as a corresponding or first author. Utilizing this model, we also established radio frequency ablation (RFA) platform and laser therapy platform, and developed the combination therapeutic strategies with immunotherapy to treat HCC. We have published some of these results in Cancer Biology & Therapy (2015) and Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology (2016). Another focus of my studies is on cancer biology toward elucidating the underlying mechanisms mediating tumor growth and metastasis. The provocative studies generate the innovative results; we published parts of them in Cancer letter (2017), Cell (2015), Cancer Biology & Therapy (2013-2015),  Journal of Biological Chemistry (2011) and Molecular Cancer Research (2009) etc. In addition, Dr. Li has been well-trained in infection immunology and molecular biology during my PhD study and previous research experience. The achieved fruits generated four patents with me as one of the inventors.