Dr. Isaac Li is an Assistant Chemistry professor at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Originating from China, Dr. Li moved to Canada and completed his last 2 years of high school in Toronto. He attended the University of Toronto for his undergraduate studies, majoring in nanoengineering. Dr. Li then furthered his studies at the University of Toronto by doing his Masters in biomedical engineering. During this time, Dr. Li worked on engineering proteins in such a way that their functions could be controlled. Dr. Li went on to also do his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Toronto and in his Ph.D., he began to develop an interest in the fundamental processes of single-protein functions. He started to use single-molecule tools, such as the atomic-force microscope, to view aspects of individual proteins such as their conformational changes. He then moved to the United States to do his Postdoctoral in Biophysics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Center for the Physics of Living Cells. At this institution, he began to focus on more biology-focused problems, and he developed research tools that would help him understand how cells function in their physiological environment. He used these tools to look at specific cell processes such as cell adhesion and cell migration as he investigated factors that affected these processes.

His current research focuses on developing molecular tools and techniques that facilitate drug screening. In typical drug screening, the environment that is being used to test these drugs is often static. However, in real-life applications, these drugs operate in a dynamic environment such as the human body. Keeping that in mind, Dr. Li’s lab is interested in creating more realistic, dynamic environments for drug screening which would aid in examining the kinetic interactions that take place when drugs are applied.

In his spare time, Dr. Li enjoys mentoring students, and his lab is filled with people from all diverse backgrounds, as he emphasizes the importance and development of interdisciplinary skill sets. Outside of the lab and when he is not teaching, Dr. Li has a knack for making Lego and model airplanes. He is also a big Sci-fi fanatic and loves Star Trek and Star Wars both equally (I. Li, personal communication, March 22, 2023).

Works Cited

Li, I. (2023, March 22). Personal communication [Personal interview]. 

Li, I. (n.d.). [Picture of Dr. Isaac Li]. The University of British Columbia. Retrieved August 20, 2023, from https://chemistry.ok.ubc.ca/about/contact/isaac-li/