Wen Li

Dr. Wen Li is an Associate Researcher in the Department of Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. She is an expert in biomedical imaging analysis with a research focus on optimizing and integrating quantitative imaging metrics as biomarkers for predicting treatment response in breast cancer patients.

Dr. Li's educational background includes:

• B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2001)
• M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2004)
• Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa (2012)
• Postdoctoral Training at the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, Children's National Medical Center (2013)
• Postdoctoral Training in Breast Cancer Imaging at UCSF (2019)

Her research interests span quantitative imaging methodology in cancer, tumor heterogeneity in biomedical images, prediction models for treatment response in systematic chemotherapy, and machine learning applications in medicine. Dr. Li specializes in utilizing advanced imaging techniques including Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), Diffusion-Weighted MRI (DW-MRI), and MammiPET to develop biomarkers that can predict how breast cancer patients will respond to treatment.

Analysis of Dr. Li's recent publications reveals a strong focus on integrating imaging biomarkers with circulating tumor DNA analysis to predict treatment response and recurrence risk in breast cancer. Her work often involves multicenter clinical trials, particularly the I-SPY 2 trial, and employs advanced computational methods to analyze tumor morphology, volume changes, and other imaging features during neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Dr. Li has received numerous awards and honors including:

• Educational Stipend Award and Magna Cum Laude Merit Award at ISMRM 27th Annual Meeting & Exhibition (2019)
• Educational Stipend Award and Summa Cum Laude Merit Award at ISMRM 26th Annual Meeting & Exhibition (2018)
• Educational Stipend Award and Clinical Scholar Award at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (2016)
• Travel Award to Image Processing Winter School at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (2010)
• Multiple early career awards from Shanghai institutions (2005-2007)

As Principal Investigator on NIH/NCI R01CA255442 grant titled "Strategy for combining circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of tumor burden for prediction of response and outcome in neoadjuvant-treated early breast cancer" (2020-2025), Dr. Li leads research to develop strategies for combining liquid biopsy and MRI-based measures to build robust predictors of response and metastatic recurrence in high-risk early breast cancer patients.

Dr. Li collaborates extensively with the I-SPY 2 TRIAL Investigators Network and works within the UCSF Breast Imaging Research Group, contributing to the development of quantitative imaging biomarkers for personalized cancer treatment.