Liwu Li, professor of inflammation biology and immunology in the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Science, has received the university’s 2017 Alumni Award for Excellence in Research.

Sponsored by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, the Alumni Award for Excellence in Research is presented annually to as many as two Virginia Tech faculty members who have made outstanding research contributions.

Li has made significant contributions to basic and translational life science through his development of new theories in the field of innate immunity. By applying these concepts to issues related to human health and inflammatory disease, he has addressed the potential power of adjusting the innate immune response as a method for treating human diseases, such as sepsis and atherosclerosis.

He received the 2014 Outstanding Service Award in the Department of Biological Sciences and was recently awarded the position as vice president of the Inflammation Research Association.

A tenured full professor in biological sciences at Virginia Tech, Li also has joint appointments in the School of Biomedical Engineering, the Virginia Tech-Carilion School of Medicine, and the Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. He has published close to 100 journal articles over the past 20 years and has been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health research grants now totalling more than $8 million.

Moreover, Li is committed to serving students, as evidenced by his mentorship of more than 20 students, as well as his design of the Immunology track in the new translational biology, medicine, and health graduate program.

Li has made unique and pivotal contributions to the understanding of human health and disease and is frequently sought after to give talks and seminars at academic institutions and professional conferences. He is a highly respected consultant for the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. He has served as the associate editor for the Journal of Immunology and is currently the editor for Inflammation Research.

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