Yi Li

Yi Li is a Professor at the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center and the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology and serves as a member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Li earned his BS and MS from Jiangsu Agricultural College (1984, 1987) and PhD in molecular biology from Michigan State University (1996). His postdoctoral training included National Cancer Institute (2000) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2002).

Dr. Li's research focuses on molecular mechanisms of breast cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis, with a particular emphasis on JAK-STAT5/BCL-xL signaling, EGFR-Wnt interactions, and immune surveillance evasion. His lab pioneered immunocompetent rodent models that mirror human ER+ breast cancer, enabling studies on therapy resistance and metastasis. Recent work includes preclinical validation of intermittent anti-JAK treatment (clinical trial TBCRC042) and CRISPR/Cas9-based somatic gene editing for high-fidelity tumor modeling.

The lab's 15 most recent publications span topics including RSPO2-LGR4-RANKL signaling in bone metastasis, epigenetic roles of BCL-xL, precision gene editing, and metformin/IGF-1R inhibition in triple-negative breast cancer. These studies intersect with immunology, epigenetics, and signal transduction.

Key lab members include Wen Bu (Assistant Professor), Weiyu Jiang (Senior Research Assistant), Ahmed Talab (Postdoctoral Associate), and Amy Ku (Predoctoral Fellow). The lab periodically recruits postdoctoral fellows with molecular biology expertise for projects involving oncogenic driver studies and microenvironment interactions.