Dr. Hongyan Li

Director of Oncology

Dr. Li has over 30 years of experience in pharmacology. She authored 5 patents and over 50 peer-reviewed publications. She specializes in pre-clinical studies of anticancer therapies and diabetic complications prevention, focusing on pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and general pharmacological tests.

Prior to joining Melior Discovery in April 2022, Dr. Li was responsible for managing the Radiation Oncology Department and Antitumor Assessment Core Facility at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for over 8 years. She focused on radiation-induced immune response as well as establishing PDX (patient derived xenograft) models and orthotopic xenograft models.

Dr. Li is proficient in evaluating various anti-tumor therapies, including CAR-T, NK, antibodies, oligonucleotides, small molecules, nanoparticles, etc. In addition, she has expertise in immunological techniques such as FACS, Multiplex Cytokine Assays, immune-histochemistry, immuno-cytochemistry, and ELISA. She is also an expert in IVIS technique and had skillfully executed in vivo/in vitro imaging via bioluminescence.

Dr. Li earned her B.S. from Shanghai Medical University and Ph.D. from Peking Union Medical College, China. During her Ph.D. study, she led the R&D of Nicousamide to phase I clinical trial. She received post-doctoral training at National Institutes of Health, where she developed an ultra-sensitive, highly specific HPLC assay for measuring vitamin C levels in red blood cells and supported clinic pharmacokinetics study in cancer patients treated with vitamin C.

In addition to enjoying the success at work, Dr. Li likes cooking, gardening, and traveling with family and friends.