Hong Li, PhD

Biography

Hong Li, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Pediatric Research Center within the Department of Pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. Dr. Li is a multidisciplinary biomedical scientist who integrates developmental biology, genomics, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, and single-cell technologies to understand normal development, uncover the mechanisms of congenital disease, and develop new therapeutic strategies, with a particular focus on craniofacial biology and orofacial clefting.

Dr. Li earned her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from Hunan Normal University and completed postdoctoral training in Craniofacial Biology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus under the mentorship of Dr. Trevor Williams. Before joining UTHealth Houston in 2026, she served as an assistant research professor in the Department of Craniofacial Biology at the University of Colorado.

Dr. Li’s research has advanced the understanding of orofacial clefting, facial fusion, branchio-oculo-facial syndrome, and craniofacial morphogenesis through mouse genetics, single-cell transcriptomics, and systems biology approaches. She has led and co-led on multiple NIH-funded projects, including a K01 Career Development Award investigating transcriptional regulatory networks in craniofacial development and an NIH R01 project focused on developing in-utero therapeutic strategies to prevent cleft lip and palate in a humanized mouse model.

Dr. Li has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in journals including Development, eLife, PLOS Genetics, and Human Molecular Genetics. Her long-term goal is to translate discoveries about normal development and disease mechanisms into new approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human congenital diseases. She is an active member of several professional organizations, including the International Society for Computational Biology, the American Association for Anatomy, and the Society of Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology.