Dr. Li earned his Master's Degree in Organic Chemistry in 1991 and his PhD Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2000. He received his postdoctoral training in Dr. Roderick Dashwood's laboratory at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon
State University where he worked on molecular mechanisms and chemoprevention of colorectal cancer. He joined the Gastroenterology Division at UTMB as a faculty member in 2006.
Dr. Li has been very well funded by the NIH, the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), and the American Heart Association (AHA) for research in gastrointestinal and cardiovascular science. He has served as a reviewer for Digestive
Disease Week (DDW), the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and numerous scientific journals. He has authored and co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, textbook chapters, and reviews.
Dr. Li is widely regarded as a passionate teacher. He was honored as Teacher of the Year for two consecutive years (1998 and 1999) and was elected by all graduate students as "The Teacher I Like Most" at Central South University in 1998. Many
medical students at UTMB have rated him as the best facilitator they have had. In student evaluations of teaching, three PBL groups of medical students granted him perfect scores (5.00/5.00) in 2015, 2017, and 2020.