Michael Li, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Research Focus:

Dr. Michael Li is a transplant hepatologist and gastroenterologist, whose research investigates the complex relationship between the immune system and liver diseases, with a particular focus on autoimmune conditions such as PSC. He is committed to advancing the understanding of immune-mediated liver diseases through impactful clinical and translational research.

Key Achievements and Impact:

• Dr. Michael Li is the recipient of the 2022 PSC Partners Young Investigator Award for his project, “Novel proteome-wide autoantibody discovery in primary sclerosing cholangitis”.
• This Young Investigator Award has catalyzed Dr. Li’s development as an investigator focusing on immune-mediated liver disease and also partially supported his promotion from Instructor of Medicine to Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCSF.
• His PSC Partners funded research has resulted in an active multi-center collaboration with Stanford University.
• Additionally, the data generated from this research helped him secure a commitment for collaboration with The Consortium for Autoimmune Liver Diseases (CALiD) to access 200 additional patient samples, which are intended for use in a future R01 submission.
• Beyond his grant, Dr. Li has actively participated in the 2023 and 2024 International Collaborative Research Network (ICRN) meetings led by PSC Partners.
• Dr. Li also serves as the Principal Investigator at UCSF for the WIND-PSC Study, a global, multi-center observational study that is fully funded by PSC Partners. This study, which aims to enroll up to 2,000 patients, is crucial for generating regulatory-quality data to support PSC drug development.

Publications From PSC Partners Grant-Supported Data:

• Dr. Li was a co-first author for the study titled “Patient-focused drug development in primary sclerosing cholangitis: Insights on patient priorities and involvement in clinical trials” (Li et al., 2024), which was published in Hepatology Communications in 2024.
• The study utilized data from PSC Partners Seeking a Cure’s “Our Voices” survey and provided insights into patient interest in and barriers to participating in PSC clinical trials, highlighting that while most patients are interested, few have been asked to participate, underscoring the need for greater referral and education.

“The PSC Partners Young Investigator Award has been transformative for my career; this grant has helped me build cross-disciplinary collaborations and has opened doors for me to directly interact with preeminent PSC investigators from around the world.” – Dr. Li

Reference: Li, M., Pai, R. A., Gomel, R., Vyas, M., Callif, S. C., Hatchett, J., Bowlus, C. L., & Lai, J. C. (2024). Patient-focused drug development in primary sclerosing cholangitis: Insights on patient priorities and involvement in clinical trials. Hepatology communications, 8(6), e0433. doi.org/10.1097/HC9.0000000000000433