Prof. Dinggang Li is the Head of Oncology at several major general hospitals around China. His academic credentials have made him one of the most highly sought-after specialist oncologists around the world. He is regarded as an innovator in the development of cancer treatments involving immunotherapy and gene therapy.
Education and Background
Prof. Dinggang Li began his medical training at Johns Hopkins University. In 1995, he also completed his initial residence in Surgical Oncology at the attached Teaching Hospital. He then continued his training to achieve mastery of gene therapy, cellular therapy, and minimally-invasive surgery.
Upon his return to Beijing in 2004, he sought further training in Traditional Chinese Medicine before moving on as an independent clinician and researcher. He pioneered many multidisciplinary treatment programs that combine immunotherapy, chemotherapy, hyperthermia, HIFU, cryosurgery and cell-mediated immunotherapy.
Research and Practice Focus
Prof. Li’s clinical practice encompasses a wide variety of oncological interventions for middle or late-stage malignancies. In addition, he founded China’s first gene therapy research centre.
As one of the leaders at the China Cancer Integrative Treatment Centre, he is currently experimenting with:
- CIK cell treatment
- Immunotherapy
- Combined chemoradiotherapy
- Thermal therapy and hyperthermia
- Gendicine (Human recombinant P53 gene adenovirus) injections
- Cryosurgery-based minimally invasive surgeries
Thanks to his emphasis on treatment combinations, his work has applications for a wide variety of solid tumors. This includes lung, breast, liver, bladder and prostate cancers. He has also developed new procedures that use multipotent stem cells to treat autoimmune conditions and to increase survival rates following complex organ transplants.
Professional Memberships and Relationships
Thanks to Prof. Li, the Beijing Yanhua Hospital has been able to forge closer links with Johns Hopkins University. He serves leading roles in the oncology departments of several specialized hospitals across China.