Virginia Commonwealth University · PharmacologyLi Lab
Jiong Li · Richmond, Virginia
Research Focus
Dr. Jiong Li's lab at Virginia Commonwealth University focuses on understanding how certain elements in cancer cells, called FOSL1-super-enhancers, drive cancer stem cell properties that contribute to resistance against chemotherapy in head and neck cancer. The lab is developing innovative techniques to target these super-enhancers to improve treatment outcomes. Their research aims to identify new strategies to combat chemotherapy resistance, providing hope for more effective cancer therapies.
cisplatincancer stem cellschemoresistancehead and neck cancersuper-enhancersFOSL1PROTACsdrug targetingtumorigenesismetastasis
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate the role of FOSL1-super-enhancers in cancer stem cells that are resistant to cisplatin.
AIM 02Develop PROTAC-based inhibitors to target FOSL1-super-enhancers in head and neck cancer.
AIM 03Use mouse models to validate the effectiveness of targeting FOSL1 to overcome chemotherapy resistance.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemouse modelsChIP-seqWestern blottingdrug designproteomicsfunctional screeningstructure-activity relationship studiesanimal experimentationbiological assays
Output against the department
Publications486top 11% of dept.50th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations14ktop 29% of dept.133rd of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.