Li Li, MD, PhD

Chair, Department of Family Medicine
University of Virginia Health

Li Li, MD, PhD, is an expert in primary care, population health and clinical translational research. He is chair of the UVA Department of Family Medicine, director of population health and co-director of the Cancer Prevention and Population Health program.

Li earned both his master's in public health and medical degree from Tongji Medical University in Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China. He then went to the University of Southern California, where he obtained a master of science in applied biometry and a doctoral degree in preventative medicine. He also pursued a fellowship in cancer prevention at the National Cancer Institute, followed by family medicine training at the University of Kentucky.

During his career, Li has established multiple cancer and population health research programs (the Cleveland Colon Screening and Risk Factors Study, the Kentucky Colon Cancer Genetic Epidemiology Study and the Zhabei Health 2020 Study). He also co-led a $3 million National Institutes of Health grant aimed to help us understand the genetic, lifestyle, and community factors that drive the significant racial disparities that exist for colorectal cancer.

Prior to going to UVA, Li was an assistant professor in the department of family medicine at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine and tenured as a full professor of family medicine. In addition, Li was a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and environmental health sciences.