Equity

In science and medicine there is no blueprint or crystal ball dictating who will make the breakthroughs that transform our fundamental knowledge and the lives of patients. As we cannot predict who will push the field forward in paradigm-shifting ways, it is our responsibility to ensure that anyone and everyone who has an interest dedicating their life to science is supported to achieve success, no matter their background or way of life. We believe it is our duty to actively seek out those researchers who are underrepresented in science and medicine, as these are the future colleagues we are at greatest risk of losing out on if they are not well supported and encouraged to pursue this calling. In the Li lab we pride ourselves on an open and accepting environment, which is a major pillar of our basic tenet that the pursuit of scientific truth is unifying for everyone.

Mentoring

We believe that scientific training is far from a one-size-fits-all endeavor, and that every trainee’s experience must be individually tailored to yield the maximum degree of personal growth and transformation. We believe that the development and nurturing of independent thought is an absolute must for trainees to reach their full potential, and also believe that constructive feedback in both directions is paramount to the mentor-mentee relationship. We recognize that one of the greatest lasting impacts an academic lab can have is for their trainees to go out and change the world, and hold in the utmost regard our responsibility to ensure every trainee is prepared to go off and achieve independent success.

Cooperativity

The most powerful and synergistic science comes out of the most collaborative environments. In the Li Lab we view any success from our lab as all of our success. Collaboration and contributing in both an intellectual and hands-on manner to all research efforts in the lab are one of our guiding principles.