Source: Interfolio F180


Li Ye, PhD

Professor - NE
The Abide-Vividion Chair in Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Department of Neuroscience


 Email

Research Focus

The brain plays a pivotal role in integrating homeostatic signals and regulating whole-body metabolism. But the high energy demand of neurons also makes the CNS highly sensitive to systemic metabolic stress. We are interested in how the brain adapts to both acute and chronic metabolic changes and how such adaptation, in turn, affects the control of organismal physiology by the CNS, at the biochemical, cellular, and circuit levels. Our long-term goal is to harness the molecular and circuit mechanisms underlying these adaptations to target metabolic disorders including obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as certain neurodegenerative diseases.

We employ and design novel systems tools optimized for brain-wide structural mapping (whole-brain labeling, tissue clearing ('CLARITY/HYBRiD') and large-volume light-sheet imaging), in vivo multi-region Ca2+ imaging, and activity/connectivity-defined optogenetics. Based in TSRI, we also develop and apply high throughput screens (small molecules/CATCH, genomic, proteomic, etc.) in conjunction with circuit-based tools to unleash the power of large scale unbiased screens in intact mammalian brains.


Education

Ph.D., Harvard University, 2012
B.S., Tsinghua University, 2006

Professional Experience

2013-2017 Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University/HHMI, Stanford, CA
2007-2008 Chemical Biology Visiting Student, MIT/Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA

Awards & Professional Activities

2017 NIDDK Mentored Career Development Award (K01), NIH/NIDDK
2018 Baxter Foundation Young Faculty Award
2018 Dana Foundation David Mahoney Neuroimaging Program
2019 Whitehall Foundation Research Award
2020 NIH Director's New Innovator Award, NIH/NIDDK
2022 Abide Vividion Endowed Chair, Scripps Research / Abide Vividion
2022 American Journal of Physiology-Young Investigator Award
2023 Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award

Selected Publications

Pang, Zhengyuan; Schafroth, Mich A.; Ogasawara, Daisuke; Wang, Yu; Nudell, Victoria; Lal, Neeraj K.; Yang, Dong; Wang, Kristina; Herbst, Dylan M.; Ha, Jacquelyn; Guijas, Carlos; Blankman, Jacque L.; Cravatt, Benjamin F.; Ye, Li In situ identification of cellular drug targets in mammalian tissue. 2022, 185, 1793-1805.e17.

Nudell, Victoria; Wang, Yu; Pang, Zhengyuan; Lal, Neeraj K.; Huang, Min; Shaabani, Namir; Kanim, Wesam; Teijaro, John; Maximov, Anton; Ye, Li HYBRiD: hydrogel-reinforced DISCO for clearing mammalian bodies. 2022, 19, 479-485.

Ye, Li; Ye, Letizia S.; Wei, Don; Raam, Tara; Kingsbury, Lyle; Huang, Shan; Hu, Rongfeng K.; Hong, Weizhe Cortical Representations of Conspecific Sex Shape Social Behavior.. Neuron 2020, 941-953.e7.
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Kim, Christina K.; Ye, Li; Jennings, Jos H.; Pichamoorthy, Nandini; Tang, Daniel D D.; Yoo, Ai-Chi W.; Ramakrishnan, Charu; Deisseroth, Karl Molecular and Circuit-Dynamical Identification of Top-Down Neural Mechanisms for Restraint of Reward Seeking. 2017, 170, 1013-1027.e14.

Ye, Li; Allen, W. E.; Thompson, K. R.; Tian, Q.; Hsueh, B.; Ramakrishnan, C.; Wang, A. C.; Jennings, J. H.; Adhikari, A.; Halpern, C. H.; Witten, I. B.; Barth, A. L.; Luo, L.; McNab, J. A.; Deisseroth, K. Wiring and molecular features of prefrontal ensembles representing distinct experiences. Cell 2016, 165, 1776-1788.
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Lerner, Talia N.; Ye, Li; Deisseroth, Karl Communication in Neural Circuits: Tools, Opportunities, and Challenges. 2016, 164, 1136-1150.