Shu-Peng Li

Special PI Program with PKUSZlisp(at)pkusz.edu.cn

Educational background&Work experience

2016-presentPrincipal Investigator, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University

2012–2016Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry University of Toronto Toronto

2010–2016 Project Scientist Molecular Neuroscience Centre for Addiction and Mental Health University of Toronto Toronto

2005–2009Postdoctoral Researcher Molecular Neuroscience Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Toronto

2001—2005Ph.D in Neuroscience Department of Biology (Neuroscience) College of Natural Sciences,Gyeongsang National University,Jinju

1998—2001M.S in Neuroscience Department of Pathophysiology Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan

1993—1998 Bachelor of Medicine Department of Medicine Tongji Medical University Wuhan China

Research field

We are interested in how various neurotransmitter systems coordinate to exert their functions in the brain; how neurotransmitter receptors and their signaling contribute to neurological and psychiatric disorders. Receptor communication and signaling integrations happen at various levels. Our previous research showed that receptors as a protein complex mediated learning and memory process, ischemic stroke, addiction, depression, and schizophrenia. At cellular level, receptors spatiotemporally coordinate and affect downstream intracellular signals as well as cell excitability, which further affect neuronal communication via long and short term synaptic changes. Receptors also mediate the local neuronal communications to form functional nuclei. Eventually at highest complexity level of neurociruit, functional nuclei at different brain areas connect through direct or indirect pathways to fulfil specific brain functions, such as attention, emotion, learning and memory et al.  Our studies as well as previous results support the general hypothesis that receptor coordination deficiency at any of the above mentioned levels leads to neurological and psychiatric disorders, including ischemic stroke, neurodegenerative disorders such as AD and PD, or schizophrenia, depression, and drug addiction. Ultimately, our long term research goal is to reveal, map, and validate pathological receptor and signaling changes at different levels using combined techniques of molecular pharmacology, electrophysiology, biochemistry, imagining, and behavioural tests. Taking advantage of the cutting edge approaches of chemical biological, biophysical, and genetic tools, we aim to reveal the molecular mechanism underlying physiological and pathological behaviours.