The College of Pharmacy professor, known for DNA and cancer research, also received the NIH ONES Award

Assistant Professor Deyu Li is known around the College of Pharmacy as a dedicated, engaging teacher who inspires students in the classroom and the lab. He is known as a talented researcher making significant breakthroughs in DNA science and cancer treatment, earning him multiple awards, including Outstanding New Environmental Researcher Award from the National Institutes of Health.

He is now also known as the Paramaz Avedisian Endowed Chair in Medical Organic Chemistry.

Dr. Li has been chosen for the position named for 1954 URI graduate Paramaz Avedisian, namesake of the College’s Avedisian Hall, College of Pharmacy Dean Paul Larrat has announced. The chair is part of the $5 million gift Edward Avedisian made to the college in 2017 in honor of his late brother, a dedicated pharmacist and chemist who believed strongly that education and constant innovation are paramount to quality patient care. Li is the perfect person to continue that legacy, Edward Avedisian said.

“He’s got a great rapport with students; he’s doing a great job bringing in research grants; and he’s producing impressive results in the lab. A guy like that can draw in the top students,” Avedisian said. “When you’ve got curiosity, creativity and you’re willing to work, huge developments can come out of it. Deyu is the perfect person to make that happen.”

Li is the first named for the endowed chair, which provides $1.5 million in funding, in perpetuity. The endowment is intended to help the chair build a team of scientists across multiple disciplines — chemistry, molecular biology, pharmaceutical sciences, etc. — to work toward the goal of finding better therapies for diseases and better treatments for patients.

That has been Li’s mission since arriving at URI as an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy in 2014. In his latest study, Li identifies the mutational spectra of human carcinogens, which often cause cancer years, or even decades, after a person is exposed. By identifying and recognizing the pattern in a patient’s DNA, doctors can warn patients about their exposure, increasing the chances of curing the cancer before it takes hold.

“Cancer is a devastating disease that touches millions of people. It’s not just a medical, but a societal problem,” Li said. “I want to work on early detection, early treatment and better, precision therapy. We have a chance to really dig in to understand the disease and improve the therapy.”

The Avedisian Endowed chair will give Li the opportunity and the resources to make a difference not just in cancer research, but other devastating diseases pharmaceutical researchers are attempting to treat.

“We’re gradually advancing toward the end goal of finding better therapies, but this is not a one-day study. It takes time. The endowed chair will give us the time and support to get there,” Li said. “It’s always been my goal to study disease, find better drugs and improve treatment. This gives me a lot of confidence and support to pursue this goal I’ve had for a long time.”

Dean Larrat shares that confidence in Li, expecting the Avedisian Chair will help the professor succeed in his mission.

“Deyu is truly one of the rising stars not just at URI but throughout the entire pharmaceutical development industry,” Larrat said. “He is an engaging teacher who will continue to attract the top students to the College and to his lab. He has already proven himself to be among the most talented researchers in his field. I have no doubt the many breakthroughs Deyu will achieve will impact the medical community for decades to come.”