Biography

Dr. Ji Li received the PhD degree at LanzhouUniversity in 1998. In 2000, he joined National Institute on Aging/NIH to pursue his postdoc training in molecular signaling transduction. His contributions to aging research in the NIH include the characterization of a phosphatase MKP-1 that is involved in the transcriptional regulation of MAP kinase activity during the aging process. After finishing the cardiology training in Yale University School of Medicine, he was appointed as a tenure-track faculty member in University of Wyoming and served as the Director of Cardiovascular Research & Alternative Medicine Center (CRAMC). Since 2009, Dr. Li joined the SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine, his group is attempting to elucidate the critical role that MIF-AMPK signaling cascade as en energy sensor may play in the aging-related increases in susceptibility to ischemia and reperfusion injury. The goal is to identify a molecular model in the heart and target this signaling cascade for therapeutic intervention that could ultimately provide a strategy for ameliorating ischemic injury in the elderly population. Dr. Li has published over 70 papers in the prestigious journals such as Nature, Circulation, Cell Metabolism, Immunity.