Li Shen, PhD
img_Li Shen
PROFESSOR | Neuroscience
Research Topics
Bioinformatics, Biomedical Informatics, Computational Biology, Drug Design and Discovery, Epigenomics, Gene Regulation, Genomics, Image Analysis, Mathematical Modeling of Biomedical Systems, Mathematical and Computational Biology
Multi-Disciplinary Training Area
Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies in Medicine [AIET], Genetics and Genomic Sciences [GGS]
Machine learning
The Shen lab focuses on Genome AI and large-scale genomic data analysis to advance biological discovery. A major direction of our research is developing deep learning models that learn the functional grammar of the genome directly from DNA sequence, including sequence-to-function and genomic language models that capture long-range regulatory context to predict gene expression, regulatory activity, and the functional impact of genetic variation. By leveraging transformer architectures and large-scale biological datasets, we aim to build foundation models that decode the regulatory logic of the human genome and enable variant-to-function and variant-to-phenotype prediction. We also apply machine learning to diverse biomedical problems, including breast cancer detection and risk prediction from mammography, sequence-to-phenotype modeling, and automated genome annotation. Since 2009, our group has analyzed tens of thousands of NGS datasets totaling more than 300 terabytes in collaboration with researchers across the United States, with work published in journals such as Nature, Science, Nature Medicine, and Nature Genetics. We have also developed widely used tools for genomic data analysis, including ngs.plot and diffReps. Our long-term goal is to bridge artificial intelligence and genomics by building scalable models that transform genome interpretation, disease research, and precision medicine.

BS, Fudan University

PhD, Nanyang Technological University

Postdoc, University of California San Diego

2022

Google Cloud Research Innovator

Google

2019

4D Technology Development

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

2006

Interfaces in Science Award

Burroughs Wellcome Funds

2000

ViaVoice National Campus Application Contest Excellence Prize

IBM

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Dr. Shen has not yet completed reporting of Industry relationships.

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