Wenqi Li, MB

Wenqi Li is currently a PhD student in Dr. Jorge Bezerra/Dr. Pranav Shivakumar lab at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Before her science training, she completed her medical school at Peking University, China. Currently, her research focuses on fundamental and translational liver research to add new perspectives to the field. Specifically, she utilizes patient liver-derived biliary organoid model to study the inter-cellular communications between bile duct epithelial cells and immune cells in biliary atresia. She has established rhesus rotavirus infection model in organoids and immune cell co-culture model to shed light on how intrinsic epithelial defects interact with macrophages to form a self-perpetuating axis that promote disease progress. Importantly, her work has identified NF-kB as a potential druggable target for biliary atresia. After getting her PhD, she expects to go back to the clinic and continue her clinical training as a resident and fellow, with a career goal of becoming a physician-scientist.