Tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia. One of a few NIH funded spine surgeon-scientists in USA. Dr. Li has advanced expertise in a wide range of spinal procedures from microscope-assisted cervical artificial disc replacement to the most complex spinal reconstruction for scoliosis. He also has developed a renowned laboratory focusing on intervertebral disc degeneration pathology and treatment with stem cells, nanotechnology and gene therapy. Dr. Li has been the recipient of about 20 grants as the Principle Investigator including six NIH (National Institute of Health R03, R21 and R01) grants.