Dr. Li received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Beijing Normal University. After joining the School of Medicine at the University of Louisville in 2005, her early research focused on elucidating molecular mechanisms through gene-targeting technologies, including the construction of vectors for knockout, knock-in, and transgenic mouse models. Among these efforts, Necl-4 and NKX2.2 mutant mouse models were generated to investigate gene functions in nervous system development.