Wanhe Li

Wanhe Li is an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University and a CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research. His lab investigates the neurobiological mechanisms linking chronic social isolation, stress, sleep disruption, and metabolic changes using Drosophila models. He joined Texas A&M in 2022.

Education: B.S. Biological Sciences from Nankai University (2004), Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Stony Brook University (2011, joint with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), and postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University.

Research focuses on neural circuits regulating sleep/wake cycles, circadian rhythms, and metabolic responses to social isolation. Key discoveries include how chronic isolation mimics starvation signals in Drosophila, leading to sleep loss and hyperphagia. This work bridges animal models to human conditions like loneliness-associated metabolic disorders and chronic illness progression.

Publications highlight translational research in stress neurobiology, circadian regulation, and neurodegenerative mechanisms. Major funding includes CPRIT support for studying cancer-related chronic stress pathways.

Labs/Teams: Directs the Li Lab, advancing genetically tractable models to study stress and chronic disease interactions.