Zhaoping Li, MD

Zhaoping Li, MD, PhD is the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Endowed Chair in Human Nutrition, Professor and Chief of the Division of Clinical Nutrition in the Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  She is also the Chair of Medicine at the Greater Los Angeles VA Health System and is the Director of the multidisciplinary UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. 

Dr. Li received research training in calcium cycling and regulation in cardiomyocyte cell physiology.  Her research interests span both basic and clinical research in nutrition, obesity, cancer and other age-related chronic diseases.  She supervises 5 clinical physician scientists and PhD laboratory scientists investigating food is medicine via studying gene-nutrient interaction, nutritional modulation of the microbiome, and health impacts of phytonutrients. Dr. Li has a track record of designing and implementing prospective cohort studies and clinical trials in diverse populations that involve both biological and clinical outcomes. She has been Principal Investigator for over 100 NIH funded, investigator-initiated and industry sponsored clinical trials in the fields of food is medicine, especially those regarding the interplay of nutrients in obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic response and its complications.  Dr. Li has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers.  

Recognizing the variable metabolic phenotypes and individual patient’s response to diets to lower chronic disease risks, Dr. Li and her team have been focusing on developing effective tools to predict individual response.  She is particularly interested in ensuring that historically underrepresented minorities are included in studies and identifying barriers in the participation for underrepresented individuals in the field of clinical nutrition research.  Recently Dr. Li has become a site PI as a clinical center in the Nutrition for Precision Health, the 1^st ancillary study of AoU.  She also received additional grant support from the American Heart Association to recruit the Blacks and the Latino underrepresented participants into AoU and Nutrition for Precision Health.