Liwu Li is a professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech and an internationally recognized researcher in innate immune memory dynamics and their impact on human health and disease. His work demonstrates how innate immune cells memorize danger signals, which influences conditions including atherosclerosis, sepsis, cancer, and aging-related disorders. Li’s group defined principles of innate sensing and memory generation and developed genetic and chemical approaches to rejuvenate leukocytes, thus promoting tissue homeostasis.

He has served as a member of several National Institutes of Health review panels, president of the Inflammation Research Association, and director of the Genetics, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (GBCB) program at Virginia Tech. Li is a fellow of the American Heart Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.