Translational Researcher, Pharmacokinetics Expert Airong Li Joins Pharmacological & Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty

June 17 — The University of Houston College of Pharmacy recently welcomed Airong Li, Ph.D., as a research assistant professor in the college’s Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Li joins UHCOP after serving as a postdoctoral fellow in the department since 2021, where she led and contributed to multiple translational research projects in oncology and neuropharmacology. Prior to her work at UHCOP, Li was a faculty member and master's advisor for more than a decade at Zhengzhou University's College of Pharmacy in China, and she also served as a visiting scholar at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Li earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in botany from Henan Agricultural University and Nanjing Forestry University, respectively, and completed her Ph.D. in biology at Nanjing University.

Li's research spans multiple domains of drug development and delivery, including cancer pharmacology with a focus on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of cancer therapeutics, traumatic brain injury treatments, and drug formulation design. Her work includes the development and validation of advanced LC-MS/MS assays capable of quantifying multiple therapeutic agents simultaneously, as well as the use of central composite design to optimize drug formulations for enhanced stability and delivery. In her current faculty role, she is leading studies using orthotopic rodent cancer models and PK/PD modeling software to evaluate the efficacy, toxicity, and therapeutic mechanisms of novel drug combinations.

Li has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles in such journals as Nature Communications, ACS Nano, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, and the Journal of Controlled Release, and has presented her research at meetings of the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Li also serves as a reviewer for several journals, including Materials Science and Engineering C, Natural Product Research, Journal of Separation Science, and the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.

During her previous faculty position, Li was recognized with several awards for teaching, mentorship, and lectures. Li is co-inventor of two Chinese patents.