Dr. Yan Li

Surgical Oncology Research Laboratory co-director

I have a broad background in cancer research and prevention, with specific training and expertise in pathology, cellular and molecular biology as well as clinical training in internal medicine and microsurgery. I have led a research group to study the anticancerous active components in several natural products including, taraxacum, scutellaria, and turmeric in China. When I worked as a Research Scholar in the Department of Medicine University of Louisville in 2000, I carried out studies on the carcinogenetic mechanisms of Barrett’s adenocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and I served as a key investigator on several NIH-funded grants. I became a research group leader when I was appointed in the Department of Surgery in 2003, and I have successfully administered several research projects including NIH-funded grants. All my experiences are reflected in my publications in peer-reviewed journals, and the ADA funded award (1-13-BS-109—Yan Li, 01/01/2013-06/30/2016) and my pilot project of NIH-COBRE (P20GM113226—McClain, 6/10/16-3/31/21).

With the funding support, I have published over 10 papers in the research field of the endocrine fibroblast growth factor (FGF21 and FGF15/19), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma as primary investigator and corresponding author (see the selected citations). I would also like to point out that my other research efforts include: (1) microsurgery such as orthotopic inoculation with cancer cells in animals, and liver transplantation in animals (rats and mice); (2) ultrasound, micro-PET and fluorescent molecular target (FMT) imaging; (3) murine endoscopy; and (4) gold nanoparticles based drug delivery for cancer therapy. In summary, I have demonstrated a record of successful and productive research projects in the research field.