Wei Li, 2018-19 Adams Fellow
Wei Li grew up in China and studied Physiology and Biophysics at Peking University in Beijing. Li was fortunate to have an opportunity to participate in a mentored undergraduate research project that led to his interest in the function of antioxidant nutrient. After graduation, Li sought out opportunities to pursue a graduate degree and was accepted into the nutrition department at UNC Chapel Hill.
Li’s PhD study was in nutrition biochemistry with research focusing on the effect of antioxidant nutrients on the immune response to influenza virus infection. He continued to research in virology and immunology as a postdoctoral fellow at Southern Research Institute and later at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2012, Li joined the faculty of department of food science and human nutrition at Michigan State University. Since then he has taught courses ranging from introductory online courses to advanced graduate level nutrition biochemistry. Li served in many thesis/dissertation committees of graduate students in nutritional science and food science majors.
As a member of the curriculum committee of his department, Li contributed to the complete redesign and implementation of the nutritional science curriculum to better meet the learning style and career goals of the new generation of students. Currently, Li is in the process of evaluating the effectiveness of the new curriculum by quantitatively assessing students’ ability to meet learning outcomes in one of the core nutrition courses (HNF350) that he teaches.