We develop tiny lipid nanoparticles to solve

big health problems

The Li Lab at SUNY Upstate Medical University 

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems enhance the bioavailability and reduce the side effects of various drugs. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have achieved the most success in both fundamental research and clinical applications. Research efforts have focused on improving the performance of currently available nano-drugs and developing new drug formulations, both of which are challenging tasks. Our research aims to: 1) understand how carrier LNPs interact with cargo drug molecules and biological systems; and 2) develop new and better LNPs that can safely, specifically, and efficiently deliver therapeutic drugs, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Our LNPs can deliver small molecule drugs, proteins and nucleic acids

Our LNPs can target the liver, lung, spleen and other tissues

Our LNPs are degradable and biocompatible

About the lab

The Li Lab is located at SUNY Upstate Medical University in the Department of Pharmacology, in Syracuse, NY. Our department and institution host a vibrant biomedical research community, including chemists, pharmacologists, cancer biologists, molecular biologists, immunologists, physicists, and biochemists. We have a highly collaborative research environment, leveraging an interdisciplinary approach to tackle challenges in the development of lipid-based nanomedicines. Our work spans the fields of chemistry, nanotechnology, biology, and translational medicine. We closely collaborate with researchers and clinicians at SUNY Upstate and other institutions.

Yamin Li, PhD

Assistant Professor 

Department of Pharmacology

SUNY Upstate Medical University


We are hiring

We are looking for Postdoctoral Researchers, Graduate Students, and Research Technicians. If you are interested in our research, please send your CV to LiYam@upstate.edu and join our team!

Research in the Li lab is supported by

National Institutes of Health

Carol M. Baldwin Research Fund

Francis Hendricks Endowment Fund

State University of New York, Upstate Medical University

Thank you for sponsoring our research! Your support is essential to developing new & better LNP-based nanomedicine.

News

July 2024

Excited to welcome Rheaa to our lab as a summer student! Welcome to the team!

June 2024

David gave an outstanding seminar talk to our department today! We are incredibly proud of his hard work and dedication. Keep up the great work, David!
Our paper on a new lipid nanoparticle platform for lung-targeted mRNA delivery has been accepted for publication in Nano Letters. Congratulations to David, Zhi, and the team!

Maeko joined our lab as a SURF-CR student! We’re very excited to have you on board and look forward to the amazing work we’ll do together. Welcome, Maeko!

May 2024

Welcoming Md to our lab as a rotation student! Thrilled to have you on board, Md!

April 2024

Yamin delivered a seminar to the Pharmacology Department on our ongoing research concerning lipid nanoparticles for mRNA delivery. Well done, Yamin!

February 2024

Welcome to Noah, who has joined our lab as a volunteer student! We’re excited to have you on board!

January 2024

Welcome to Zhi, our newest first-year PhD student! We’re thrilled to have you on board and look forward to studying and working with you!

Xinyuan joined our lab as a Research Support Specialist! We’re excited to have you on board and look forward to working together! 

November 2023

Welcome aboard to Yuqin, our new Senior Research Scientist! Looking forward to achieving great things together!

May 2023

Big kudos to David for delivering a great seminar to the Pharmacology Department on our work with lipid nanoparticles! Keep up the fantastic work, David! 

David presented a poster at the Upstate Cancer Center Annual Retreat. We are proud his hard work and dedication. Well done, and keep shining, David! 

Yilin and Daniel graduated from Syracuse University. Congratulations! We wish you the best in your future endeavors!

January 2023

Ahmed joined our lab as a rotation student. Welcome! 

November 2022

Alexandra, Jacob and Jonathan joined our lab as visiting students. Welcome! 

October 2022

Our review paper titled “In vivo delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing components for therapeutic applications” is accepted by Biomaterials. Congratulations!

Luca joined our lab as a visiting student. Welcome! 

Yamin was invited to give a talk at the 2022 Distinguished Life Science and Biomedical Engineering Lecture Series at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Binghamton University. Well done!

September 2022

Haleigh and Mahsa joined our lab as rotation students. Welcome!

Xinyuan joined our lab as a visiting student. Welcome!

Yamin gave a talk about our lipid nanoparticles at the 2022 Graduate Studies Biomedical Sciences Retreat. Well done!  

June 2022

David joined our lab as our very first PhD student. Congratulations and welcome!

May 2022

Kun graduated from Syracuse University with a Master’s degree. Kun will join Hopewell Therapeutics as a Research Associate. Congratulation!

April 2022

Daniel joined our lab as a visiting student. Welcome!

March 2022

Kun and Yilin joined our lab as visiting students. Welcome!

Hadil and David joined our lab as rotation students. Welcome!

The Li Lab officially opened and our lab website is online. Exciting!