Dr. Bing Li, Professor of Pathology, has been appointed to the Pathology Endowed Chair in Cancer Immunology Research. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. in Immunology from Peking University Health Science Center followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Louisville. Upon completion of his fellowship, he remained at the University of Louisville as a Research Assistant Professor. 

While in Louisville, Dr Li focused on the areas of immunotherapy and cancer, and also began to explore metabolic disease. In 2011 Dr. Li began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the Hormel Institute in Austin, Minnesota and in 2016 returned to the University of Louisville where he was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. 

Dr. Li was recruited to the University of Iowa in 2021 as a tenured Professor and was the inaugural appointee to the Pathology Endowed Professorship in Cancer Immunology Research. During the past several years, Dr. Li has developed a research program exploring the means by which fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) modulate immune cell metabolism, differentiation and function. In particular, he and his group have revealed a critical role for FABP members in regulating different signaling pathways in macrophages and T cells in the context of obesity-associated disorders including cancer, chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. 

Dr. Li’s laboratory is supported by NIH funding (currently a U01 and two R01 grants) and a University of Iowa/Diabetes Research Center “Bridge to Cure” grant.