
Li Li, MD, PHD
Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Department of Leukemia - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Instructor, Department of Leukemia - Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
2023 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, CN, Ph.D |
2007 | ZhengZhou University, Zhengzhou, CN, Medicine, MD |
Postgraduate Training
2015-2019 | Postgraduate Fellow, Immunotherapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Huang, Y, Mohanty, V, Dede, M, Tsai, K, Daher, M, Li, L, Rezvani, K, Chen, K. Characterizing cancer metabolism from bulk and single-cell RNA-seq data using METAFlux. Nature communications 14(1), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37573313.
- Yan, ZX, Li, L, Fu, D, Wu, W, Qiao, N, Huang, Y, Jiang, L, Wu, D, Hu, Y, Zhang, HL, Xu, PP, Cheng, S, Wang, L, Lacin, S, Muftuoglu, M, Zhao, WL. Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment contributes to tumor progression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma upon anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T therapy. Frontiers of Medicine 17(4):699-713, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37060525.
- Li, L, Mohanty, V, Dou, J, Huang, Y, Banerjee, PP, Miao, Q, Lohr, JG, Vijaykumar, T, Frede, J, Knoechel, B, Muniz-Feliciano, L, Laskowski, TJ, Liang, S, Moyes, JS, Nandivada, V, Basar, R, Kaplan, M, Daher, M, Liu, E, Li, Y, Acharya, S, Lin, P, Shanley, M, Rafei, H, Marin, D, Mielke, S, Champlin, RE, Shpall, E, Chen, K, Rezvani, K. Loss of metabolic fitness drives tumor resistance after CAR-NK cell therapy and can be overcome by cytokine engineering. Science Advances 9(30), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37494448.
- Dou, J, Liang, S, Mohanty, V, Miao, Q, Huang, Y, Liang, Q, Cheng, X, Kim, SB, Choi, J, Li, Y, Li, L, Daher, M, Basar, R, Rezvani, K, Chen, R, Chen, K. Bi-order multimodal integration of single-cell data. Genome biology 23(1), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35534898.
- Imahashi N, Basar R, Huang Y, Wang F, Baran N, Banerjee PP, Lu J, Nunez Cortes AK, Uprety N, Ensley E, Muniz-Feliciano L, Laskowski TJ, Moyes JS, Daher M, Mendt M, Kerbauy LN, Shanley M, Li L, Lim FLWI, Shaim H, Li Y, Konopleva M, Green M, Wargo J, Shpall EJ, Chen K, Rezvani K. Activated B cells suppress T-cell function through metabolic competition. J Immunother Cancer 10(12), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36543374.
- Li, Y, Basar, R, Wang, G, Liu, E, Moyes, JS, Li, L, Kerbauy, LN, Uprety, N, Fathi, M, Rezvan, A, Banerjee, PP, Muniz-Feliciano, L, Laskowski, TJ, Ensley, E, Daher, M, Shanley, M, Mendt Vilchez, MC, Acharya, S, Liu, B, Biederstädt, A, Rafei, H, Guo, X, Melo Garcia, L, Lin, P, Ang, O, Marin, D, Chen, K, Bover, L, Champlin, RE, Varadarajan, N, Shpall, E, Rezvani, K. KIR-based inhibitory CARs overcome CAR-NK cell trogocytosis-mediated fratricide and tumor escape. Nature medicine 28(10):2133-2144, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36175679.
- Li, L, Muftuoglu, M, Liang, S, Basyal, M, Jiangxing, LV, Akdogan, ME, Chen, K, Andreeff, M, Flowers, CR, Parmar, S. In-depth analysis of SARS-CoV-2–specific T cells reveals diverse differentiation hierarchies in vaccinated individuals. JCI Insight 7(7), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35230977.
- Muftuoglu, M, Li, L, Liang, S, Mak, D, Lin, AJ, Fang, J, Burks, JK, Chen, K, Andreeff, M. Extended live-cell barcoding approach for multiplexed mass cytometry. Scientific reports 11(1), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34117319.
- Miao, Q, Wang, F, Dou, J, Iqbal, R, Muftuoglu, M, Basar, R, Li, L, Rezvani, K, Chen, K. Ab initio spillover compensation in mass cytometry data. Cytometry Part A 99(9):899-909, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33342071.
- Kerbauy, LN, Marin, ND, Kaplan, M, Banerjee, PP, Berrien-Elliott, MM, Becker-Hapak, M, Basar, R, Foster, M, Melo, LG, Neal, CC, McClain, E, Daher, M, Nunez Cortes, AK, Desai, S, Lim, FI, Mendt Vilchez, MC, Schappe, T, Li, L, Shaim, H, Shanley, M, Ensley, E, Uprety, N, Wong, P, Liu, E, Ang, O, Cai, R, Nandivada, V, Mohanty, V, Miao, Q, Shen, Y, Baran, N, Fowlkes, NW, Chen, K, Muniz-Feliciano, L, Champlin, RE, Nieto, Y, Koch, J, Treder, M, Fischer, W, Okamoto, OK, Shpall, E, Fehniger, TA, Rezvani, K. Combining AFM13, a bispecific CD30/CD16 antibody, with cytokine-activated blood and cord blood–derived NK cells facilitates CAR-like responses against CD30+ malignancies. Clinical Cancer Research 27(13):3744-3756, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33986022.
- Shaim, H, Shanley, M, Basar, R, Daher, M, Gumin, J, Zamler, D, Uprety, N, Wang, F, Huang, Y, Gabrusiewicz, KR, Miao, Q, Dou, J, Alsuliman, A, Kerbauy, LN, Acharya, S, Mohanty, V, Mendt Vilchez, MC, Li, S, Lu, J, Wei, J, Fowlkes, NW, Gokdemir, E, Ensley, E, Kaplan, M, Kassab, C, Li, L, Ozcan, G, Banerjee, PP, Shen, Y, Gilbert, AL, Jones, CM, Bdiwi, M, Nunez Cortes, AK, Liu, E, Yu, J, Imahashi, N, Muniz-Feliciano, L, Li, Y, Hu, J, Draetta, G, Marin, D, Yu, D, Mielke, S, Eyrich, M, Champlin, RE, Chen, K, Lang Jr, FF, Shpall, E, Heimberger, AB, Rezvani, K. Targeting the αv integrin/TGF-β axis improves natural killer cell function against glioblastoma stem cells. Journal of Clinical Investigation 131(14), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34138753.
- Liu, E, Ang, O, Kerbauy, LN, Basar, R, Kaur, I, Kaplan, M, Li, L, Tong, Y, Daher, M, Ensley, E, Uprety, N, Nunez Cortes, AK, Yang, RZ, Li, Y, Shaim, H, Reyes Silva, F, Lin, P, Mohanty, V, Acharya, S, Shanley, M, Muniz-Feliciano, L, Banerjee, PP, Chen, K, Champlin, RE, Shpall, E, Rezvani, K. GMP-Compliant Universal Antigen Presenting Cells (uAPC) Promote the Metabolic Fitness and Antitumor Activity of Armored Cord Blood CAR-NK Cells. Frontiers in immunology 12, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33717142.
- Daher, M, Basar, R, Gokdemir, E, Baran, N, Uprety, N, Nunez Cortes, AK, Mendt Vilchez, MC, Kerbauy, LN, Banerjee, PP, Shanley, M, Imahashi, N, Li, L, Lim, FI, Fathi, M, Rezvan, A, Mohanty, V, Shen, Y, Shaim, H, Lu, J, Ozcan, G, Ensley, E, Kaplan, M, Nandivada, V, Bdiwi, M, Acharya, S, Xi, Y, Wan, X, Mak, D, Liu, E, Jiang, XR, Ang, O, Muniz-Feliciano, L, Li, Y, Wang, J, Kordasti, S, Petrov, N, Varadarajan, N, Marin, D, Brunetti, L, Skinner, RJ, Lyu, S, Silva, L, Turk, R, Schubert, MS, Rettig, GR, McNeill, MS, Kurgan, G, Behlke, MA, Li, H, Fowlkes, NW, Chen, K, Konopleva, M, Champlin, RE, Shpall, E, Rezvani, K. Targeting a cytokine checkpoint enhances the fitness of armored cord blood CAR-NK cells. Blood 137(5):624-636, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 32902645.
- Basar R, Daher M, Uprety N, Gokdemir E, Alsuliman A, Ensley E, Ozcan G, Mendt M, Hernandez Sanabria M, Kerbauy LN, Nunez Cortes AK, Li L, Banerjee PP, Muniz-Feliciano L, Acharya S, Fowlkes NW, Lu J, Li S, Mielke S, Kaplan M, Nandivada V, Bdaiwi M, Kontoyiannis AD, Li Y, Liu E, Ang S, Marin D, Brunetti L, Gundry MC, Turk R, Schubert MS, Rettig GR, McNeill MS, Kurgan G, Behlke MA, Champlin R, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K. Large-scale GMP-compliant CRISPR-Cas9-mediated deletion of the glucocorticoid receptor in multivirus-specific T cells. Blood Adv 4(14):3357-3367, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32717029.
- Li L, Chen H, Marin D, Xi Y, Miao Q, Lv J, Banerjee PP, Shaim H, Daher M, Basar R, Imahashi N, Jimenez J, Hu B, Mehta RS, Kerbauy LN, Kaplan M, Mendt M, Ozcan G, Gokdemir E, Hernandez Sanabria M, Li Y, Chen K, Wang J, Muniz-Feliciano L, Zhao WL, Champlin RE, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K. A novel immature natural killer cell subpopulation predicts relapse after cord blood transplantation. Blood Adv 3(23):4117-4130, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31821460.
- Yan ZX, Li L, Wang W, OuYang BS, Cheng S, Wang L, Wu W, Xu PP, Muftuoglu M, Hao M, Yang S, Zhang MC, Zheng Z, Li J, Zhao WL. Clinical Efficacy and Tumor Microenvironment Influence in a Dose-Escalation Study of Anti-CD19 Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells in Refractory B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Clin Cancer Res 25(23):6995-7003, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31444250.
- Liu E, Tong Y, Dotti G, Shaim H, Savoldo B, Mukherjee M, Orange J, Wan X, Lu X, Reynolds A, Gagea M, Banerjee P, Cai R, Bdaiwi MH, Basar R, Muftuoglu M, Li L, Marin D, Wierda W, Keating M, Champlin R, Shpall E, Rezvani K. Cord blood NK cells engineered to express IL-15 and a CD19-targeted CAR show long-term persistence and potent antitumor activity. Leukemia 32(2):520-531, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 28725044.
- Cao K, Marin D, Sekine T, Rondon G, Zhao W, Smith NT, Daher M, Wang Q, Li L, Saliba RM, Pingali R, Popat U, Hosing C, Olson A, Oran B, Basar R, Mehta RS, Champlin R, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K. Donor NKG2C Copy Number: An Independent Predictor for CMV Reactivation After Double Cord Blood Transplantation. Front Immunol 9:2444, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30405633.
- Alsuliman A, Muftuoglu M, Khoder A, Ahn YO, Basar R, Verneris MR, Muranski P, Barrett AJ, Liu E, Li L, Stringaris K, Armstrong-James D, Shaim H, Kondo K, Imahashi N, Andersson B, Marin D, Champlin RE, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K. A subset of virus-specific CD161(+) T cells selectively express the multidrug transporter MDR1 and are resistant to chemotherapy in AML. Blood 129(6):740-758, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 27821506.
- Shaim H, Estrov Z, Harris D, Hernandez Sanabria M, Liu Z, Ruvolo P, Thompson PA, Ferrajoli A, Daher M, Burger J, Muftuoglu M, Imahashi N, Li L, Liu E, Alsuliman AS, Basar R, Nassif Kerbauy L, Sobieski C, Gokdemir E, Kondo K, Wierda W, Keating M, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K. The CXCR4-STAT3-IL-10 Pathway Controls the Immunoregulatory Function of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Is Modulated by Lenalidomide. Front Immunol 8:1773, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29379494.
Other Articles
- Muftuoglu M, Olson A, Marin D, Ahmed S, Mulanovich V, Tummala S, Chi TL, Ferrajoli A, Kaur I, Li L, Champlin R, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K Allogeneic BK Virus-Specific T Cells for Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy. N Engl J Med 379(15):1443-1451, 2018. PMID: 30304652.
Abstracts
- Li L. Cytomegalovirus Reactivation Shapes NK Cells Diversity Following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. 58th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
- Li L. CS1-Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor Drives Cord Blood NK Cell Maturation and Expansion In Vivo. 59th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
- Li L. NK Cell Diversity Influences Outcomes after Cord Blood Transplantation. 59th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
- Li L. Single-cell proteomic assessment of FLT3-ITD AML landscape identifies distinct resistance patterns. AACR-PRECISION PREVENTION, EARLY DETECTION, AND INTERCEPTION OF CANCER.
- Li L., Muharrem M., Edward A., Aram B., Prashant M., Jiangxing L., Mahesh B., Andrea B., Anudishi T., Amanda E., Venkata L. B., Navin V, Ghayas C. I., Michael A.. TP53 Mutations within T Cells Induce T-Cell Exhaustion and Functional Impairment in TP53 Mutant AML. 2024 ASH annual meeting.
Grant & Contract Support
Date: | 2025 - Present |
Title: | Innovative therapeutic approaches to treat AML by targeting TP53 Mutant Immune Cells |
Funding Source: | Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs |
Role: | Co-PI |
Date: | 2024 - 2025 |
Title: | Leveraging Single-Cell Genomics to Unveil Mechanisms and Develop Novel Therapeutic Strategies for TP53 Mutant Immune Cells in AML |
Funding Source: | When Everyone Survives Foundation |
Role: | PI |
Date: | 2023 - 2025 |
Title: | Multiplexed, Single‐cell Proteomic Assessment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Proteomic Landscape in Patients Treated with CDK9 Inhibitor |
Funding Source: | SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc |
Role: | Co-I |
ID: | RCTS #13052026 |
Date: | 2023 - 2026 |
Title: | Identifying, Understanding, and Eradicating Measurable Residual Disease (MRD) in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) |
Funding Source: | Break Through Cancer |
Role: | Key |
ID: | FP00018527 |
Date: | 2022 - 2024 |
Title: | Evaluating Logic-gated CAR-NK Cells in AML |
Funding Source: | SentiBio |
Role: | Co-I |
ID: | RCTS00060508 |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified April 22, 2025