Dr. Li earned her Ph.D. from the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research was focused on the molecular mechanism underlying the hyperactivity of lateral habenula in depression. By using high throughput quantitative proteomics, in combination with molecular, behavioral and electrophysiological approaches, Dr. Li identified βCaMΚΙΙ as a key molecular determinant of habenular hyperactivity and behavioral depression. With a deep interest in understanding how distinct classes of neurons and circuits control specific aspects of emotional behaviors, she joined Dr. Nathaniel Heintz’s lab at The Rockefeller University as a postdoctoral fellow to continue her research. She applied the translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) technique developed in the Heintz lab and found that the coordination of local actions of oxytocin and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) in the cortex by oxytocin receptor interneurons and CRH binding protein in the medial prefrontal cortex is critical for generating gender-specific social and anxiety disorders. Her thesis and postdoctoral research were published in the journals of Science and Cell. Right now she is developing a pathway-specific TRAP technique and aims to identify the circuit and molecular mechanisms of sexually dimorphic behaviors.
