Wentao Li

Dr. Wentao Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Science at the University of Georgia's College of Public Health. His research focuses on mechanisms of DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis across organisms from yeast to humans, employing genomics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and machine learning. He leads the Li Laboratory, actively recruiting postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in bioinformatics and molecular biology. Dr. Li's work has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the 2024 SOT/AACT Outstanding Young Toxicologist Award and the 2023 James A. Swenberg Carcinogenesis Merit Award.

Research interests include understanding how DNA repair processes interact with 3D genome organization, mitochondrial DNA fragmentation under UV damage, and the role of xenophagy in pathogen infections. His lab collaborates on projects involving aflatoxin-induced damage, transcription-coupled repair mechanisms, and comparative repair dynamics in bats versus humans.

Publications highlight contributions to nucleotide excision repair mapping, UV damage effects, and computational models like Gp-gpt for gene-phenotype mapping. Awards also include the 2023 EMGS Newly Independent Investigators Engagement Program and a 2024 Presidential Graduate Fellowship for student Shan Jiang. Dr. Li oversees lab operations at the Paul D. Coverdell Center, with a focus on mentoring over a dozen students and technicians.