Dr. Guomin Li received his bachelor’s and PhD degrees from Wuhan University’s Department of Biology and Wayne State University’s Department of Chemistry, respectively. He worked as a postdoctoral Investigator in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Modrich, the 2015 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, at Duke University, where he made substantial contributions to the award-winning work. Professor Li was an Endowed Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the director of the Reece A. Overcash, Jr. Center for Research on Colon Cancer before he was appointed a Distinguished Investigator at the Capital Medical Science Innovation Center.

Professor Li’s laboratory is dedicated to studying DNA mismatch repair (MMR), a critical cellular mechanism ensuring the accuracy of DNA replication. His work contributes to understanding MMR and its role in cancer susceptibility and treatment. He discovered that MMR defects form the molecular basis for various hereditary and sporadic cancers. Professor Li purified and identified most components required for human MMR and reconstructed human MMR reactions in vitro. His lab found that epigenetic factors, including histone modifications and mutations, are crucial components and regulators of MMR. Recently, his laboratory elucidated how MMR-deficient tumors activate the cGAS-STING pathway to promote tumor immune checkpoint therapy.