Professor LI Wei is the Dean of the SANS Institute for Neuroscience and Vision Research (SINVR) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM), and a SANS Senior Scholar. He previously held the positions of Senior Investigator (with tenure), Chief of the Retinal Neurobiology Section at the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and was an Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience and Cognitive Science at the University of Maryland. During his tenure at NIH, he also served as a Member of the Central Tenure Committee, a Member of the Committee on Scientific Conduct and Ethics, an Executive Committee Member of the NIH-Oxford/Cambridge Scholars Program, and Co-Chair of the Preclinical Committee of the NIH-FDA-Industry (Accelerating Medicines Partnership) Bespoke Gene Therapy Consortium.

     Professor Li has conducted in-depth research in fields including retinal synapses and circuits, visual transduction, retinal development, metabolism, and related diseases. He is also an internationally renowned expert in hibernation research; his research team leverages the hibernation characteristics of ground squirrels to systematically reveal the multi-level adaptive changes of the visual system during hibernation. This pioneering research has not only deepened the understanding of the relationship between metabolism and tissue health, but also pioneered an entirely new direction for the pathophysiological research of visual system impairments and disorders. 

     As one of the international leaders in vision science, Professor Li currently chairs the FASEB - The Retinal Neurobiology and Visual Processing Conference (2024 and 2026). He is a trustee of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) (2023–2027), and has been elected Vice President of ARVO for 2027. He previously served as President of the Chinese PI Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (2019) and President of the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America (SCBA) Washington DC Chapter (2024).

     Professor Li has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including The 7th Sayer Vision Research Lecture and Award (2013), ARVO Fellow, the Adrien and Gladys Drouilhet Professor of Ophthalmology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston (2013), and the Outstanding Achievement Award in Ophthalmology and Visual Science for Oversea Chinese presented by the Chinese Ophthalmological Society (2016).