People

headshot

Xin Li, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Pediatrics | Immunology
Dr. Li's Academic Profile
Ph.D., Immunology

Xin Li, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Immunology. His research interests lie in studying host-microbiota interactions in health and disease. Using innovative techniques in microbiology and immunology, and multiple model organisms (bacteria, fungi, drosophila, mice, and humans), his research aims to investigate the fundamental mechanisms by which gut commensal bacteria and fungi regulate local and systemic inflammatory immune responses.

 

Current Lab Members

Kelly Mapes, Lab Manager

Kelly is from the San Francisco Bay area and received a B.S. degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from San Francisco State University while working as an undergraduate research assistant in the laboratory of Dr. Carmen Domingo.  After graduating in 1999 she went to work for BioMarin Pharmaceuticals in Novato, CA as a process development associate. In 2004 she moved to Dallas where she joined Dr. Ellen Vitetta’s lab at UTSW, working on producing and testing a ricin vaccine. 2016-2023 she worked in the Green Center for Systems Biology, then transferred to the Li lab in August 2023.

Kelly grew up riding and showing horses, and volunteers with equine therapeutic riding programs for people with special needs. She also spends time with her cats and finding homes for rescued kittens. 

Placeholder image

Hector Wang, Postdoctoral Fellow

Born in the historic province of Shanxi, China, Hector Wang, Hector received his Ph.D. degree in Microbiology at Nankai University. Following this, he expanded his scientific journey with a visiting scholarship at the Westlake University. In April 2023, Hector joined the Li Lab at UTSW as a postdoctoral fellow. Here, he is interested in studying of immune interactions between hosts and microbes. In his free time, Hesuiyuan spends most of his time enjoying the outdoors with his friends.