Dawei Li, Ph.D.

Dawei Li, PhD, was trained in genomics and bioinformatics. His previous genetic research has led to identification of a number of disease-associated genes, particularly in psychiatric, behavioral, and addictive disorders. His recent focus is myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). ME/CFS is a multi-system disease involving the immune system and brain. No diagnostic biomarkers, FDA-approved treatment, nor cure exists for ME/CFS. The cause of ME/CFS is unknown.

Dr. Li’s research goal is to develop and maintain a multi-omics program involving bioinformatics development, genetic risk discovery, and translational medicine into diseases, particularly ME/CFS. Dr. Li’s lab develops innovative methods, software, and applications. For example, they have developed new methods to genotype genome-wide individual transposable element variants. His lab also developed the first method to detect virome-wide viral integrations.

Dr. Li is the Chair of the Genetics and Epigenetics Working Group of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ICanCME) Research Network.

• 2001: B.S., Microbiology, Northwest University, China
• 2006: Ph.D., Genetics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
• 2008: Postdoctoral Associate, Statistical Genetics, Rockefeller University, New York City, NY
• 2012: Associate Research Scientist, Genomics and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT

• 2012-2020: Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
• 2021-present: Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Science, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
• 2021-present: Director of Genomic Medicine, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL

• Chen X, Kost J, Sulovari A, Wong N, Liang WS, Cao J, Li D* . A virome-wide clonal integration analysis platform for discovering cancer viral etiology. Genome Research . 2019 May;29(5):819-830. PMID: 30872350. (* corresponding author).
• Chen X, Li D* . ERVcaller: Identifying polymorphic endogenous retrovirus and other transposable element insertions using whole-genome sequencing data. Bioinformatics . 2019 Oct 15;35(20):3913-3922. PMID: 30895294. (* corresponding author).
• Chen X, Kost J, Li D* . Comprehensive comparative analysis of methods and software for identifying viral integrations. Briefings in Bioinformatics . 2019 Nov 27;20(6):2088-2097. PMID: 30102374. (* corresponding author).
• Sulovari A, Li D* . VIpower: Simulation-based tool for estimating power of viral integration detection via high-throughput sequencing. Genomics . 2020 Jan 10;112(1):207-211. PMID: 30710609. (* corresponding author).
• Mathkar PP, Chen X*, Sulovari A, Li D* . Characterization of hepatitis B virus integrations identified in hepatocellular carcinoma genomes. Viruses . 2021 Feb 4;13(2):245. PMID: 33557409. (* corresponding author).
• Chen X, Li D* . Sequencing facility and DNA source associated patterns of virus-mappable reads in whole-genome sequencing data. Genomics . 2021 Jan;113(1 Pt 2):1189-1198. PMID: 33301893. (* corresponding author).

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Other Affiliations or Duties

• National Institutes of Health Center of Excellence on ME/CFS (ICanCME)
• United States Department of Veterans Affairs West Haven Medical Center
• Open Medicine Foundation ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center Montréal
• Chair, Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network, Genetics/Epigenetics Working Group
• Steering Committee, Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network
• Advisory Board, Foundation for Alcoholism Research Editor, Journal of Bio-X Research (published by Wolters Kluwer)