Huilin Li, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor, Department of Structural Biology

Areas of Expertise

Structural biology, cryo-electron microscopy, biophysics, DNA replication, membrane protein biochemistry

Biography

Huilin Li, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized structural biologist with more than 20 years of experience in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). His current work focuses on the eukaryotic DNA replication, the mycobacterial proteasome system, and the protein folding and protein glycosylation.

Dr. Li earned his Ph.D. in electron crystallography from the University of Science and Technology Beijing, where he trained with the late Prof. K.H. Kuo. He then completed postdoctoral research in the labs of Dr. Bing Jap and Dr. Kenneth Downing at Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory, where he studied membrane channels and microtubule structure by cryo-EM. From there, he joined Brookhaven National Laboratory as an associate biophysicist, rising through the ranks to attain a tenured position. In 2010, he joined Stony Brook University as a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology while also maintaining a summer appointment at Brookhaven. He is now a professor and chair of Van Andel Institute’s Department of Structural Biology.