Prof Li has been a principal investigator working on synthetic and bio-based polymers, and their supramolecular self-assemblies forming nanostructures and smart functional materials (hydrogels, nanoparticles, micelles, nano-vesicles, micro- and nano-encapsulation, surface coatings, etc.) for drug and gene delivery, nanomedicine, bioimaging and biosensing, personal and consumer cares, and environmental sustainability applications. So far, he has published 200+ papers in international journals, including Nature, Nature Biomedical Engineering, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, JACS, Biomaterials, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, etc., with an h-index of 70 and total citations over 16,800 according to the Web of Science. He filed 12 patents, edited one research book, and authored a few book chapters. He served chairs/co-chairs for 8 international symposia/conferences on the topics of bio-based polymers, hydrogels and biomaterials, and supramolecular chemistry.