Prior to coming to ISyE, Li was a faculty member at Arizona State University and is a co-founder of the ASU-Mayo Clinic Center for Innovative Imaging. Her research develops statistical machine learning algorithms for modeling and inference of medical image data, and fusion of images, genomics, and clinical records. Her research outcomes support clinical decision making for diagnosis, prognosis, and telemedicine for various conditions affecting the brain, such as brain cancer, post-traumatic headache and migraine, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Li's research has been funded by NIH, NSF, DOD, and industries. Li is an NSF CAREER Awardee. She received a Ph.D. in industrial and operations engineering and an M.A. in statistics from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in civil engineering from Tsinghua University.