Na Li

Principal Investigator

Dr. Na Li was born and raised in China. She received her B.Eng. in Food Science and Engineering at South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, and her Ph.D. in Food Chemistry from Purdue University.

During her Ph.D. studies, Dr. Li focused on the physical and chemical stability of green tea catechins (bioactive compounds found in green tea), as well as thermodynamic and kinetic modeling of water-solid interactions. Tea catechins suffer from poor bioavailability; improving their stability and solubility is therefore essential to reap their health benefits.

Dr. Li did her postdoctoral training in the Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy at Purdue University. She utilized breakthrough analytical approaches, and provided molecular-level understanding of the quality and performance of amorphous formulations. This includes solid-state properties (miscibility, microstructure, drug-polymer interactions), solution-state performance (colloidal stability, polymer-surfactant interactions, presence of bile salts, gastrointestinal pH change), as well as the interplpay between the two.

Dr. Li joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Connecticut as an Assistant Professor in August 2019. Dr. Li’s research lab integrates physical chemistry, biochemistry, and microbiology tools to improve the permeability and minimize inter-personal variations of orally delivered drugs.