Bob T. Li, MD, PhD, MPH
Thoracic Medical Oncologist & Early Drug Development Specialist
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Areas of Expertise
My Specialties
- Lung Cancers
- Solid Tumor Precision Medicine
- Novel Drug Development
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About Me
- Vice President, Global Research Affairs
- Physician Ambassador to China and Asia-Pacific, Bobst International Center
- Co-Director, Thoracic Liquid Biopsy Program
I am a medical oncologist and physician-scientist who specializes in lung cancers and the development of precision medicines for solid tumors.
Having experienced cancer in my own family, I understand how devastating a cancer diagnosis can be for patients and their loved ones. Yet I emphasize that there is hope for extended survival and improved quality of life. My practice is devoted to pursuing that hope through personalized and compassionate care, and by applying the most cutting-edge science to fighting cancer.
I tailor treatments to the molecular profile of patients’ tumors as well as their individual circumstances - whether that means offering a proven standard of care or a novel clinical trial.
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My research focuses on molecular changes in patients’ tumors on a gene or protein level and targeting them with new medicines. I have led numerous pivotal international clinical trials as principal investigator, including “drugging the undruggable” KRAS which has long been considered impossible to treat, and targeting HER2 across multiple types of cancers. These international trials have led to historic FDA approvals of the first KRAS and HER2-targeted therapies for patients with lung cancers. Furthermore, I am co-director of MSK’s multidisciplinary Thoracic Liquid Biopsy Program, which is focused on clinically developing liquid biopsy technologies to optimize early cancer detection and precision cancer therapy.
As Vice President of Global Research Affairs, I define and execute strategies to achieve MSK’s goals related to global health research and academia programs. I am also a member of the Bobst International Center and serve as MSK’s Physician Ambassador to China and Asia-Pacific. In this role, I provide administrative leadership in developing international partnerships in research and education to advance MSK’s mission abroad with transparency and impact. As a faculty member of MSK and Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, I am committed to educating and mentoring the next generation of physician leaders, including fellows, residents, and medical students. We cannot fight cancer alone; by bringing the world together, we may accelerate the cure for cancer in this lifetime and bring real hope to patients.
A thoracic medical oncologist is a cancer doctor who specializes in thoracic (thor-A-sik) cancers. These are cancers that have to do with the chest, including lung, tracheal (windpipe), and thymic (thymus) cancers.
An early drug development specialist tests new drugs to treat cancer. They have special training in research studies, known as clinical trials.
My Specialties
- Lung Cancers
- Solid Tumor Precision Medicine
- Novel Drug Development
- Liquid Biopsy
- International Clinical Trials
Education
- MBBS, University of New South Wales
- MPH, University of Sydney
- PhD, University of Sydney
Residencies
- Internal Medicine - Concord Repatriation General Hospital/University of Sydney
Awards and Honors
- American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award
- American Association for Cancer Research Young Investigator Translational Cancer Research Award
- 40 Under 40 in Cancer, Class of 2021
- Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- Senior Fellow on Global Public Health, Asia Society Policy Institute Center for China Analysis
Fellowships
- Medical Oncology - Royal North Shore Hospital/University of Sydney
- Medical Oncology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Board Certifications
- Internal Medicine
- Medical Oncology (Australia)
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New Patients
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Contact and Location
Dr. Li sees patients at one location.
Looking to see a doctor at a different location? See all MSK locations.
Colleagues
Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.
Clinical Trials
- Clinical Trials Investigated by Dr. Li
- A Phase IB Study of AMG 510 Combined with Other Drugs to Treat Metastatic Solid Tumors with the KRAS G12C mutation
- A Phase II Study of Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine in Patients with Cancers Driven by HER2
- Clinical Trials Co-Investigated by Dr. Li
- A Phase I Study of LY3537982 in People with Solid Tumors with a G12C Mutation in the KRAS Gene
- A Phase II Study of Local Ablative Therapy in People with Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and a High Risk of Cancer Progression
Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.
You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.
Search clinical trialsResearch and Publications
Books
Fast Facts: Immuno-Oncology. Clarke S, Li BT. Basel. Karger Publishers; 2017
Selected publications
Li BT, Smit EF, Goto Y, Nakagawa K, Udagawa H, Mazières J, Nagasaka M, Bazhenova L, Saltos AN, Felip E, Pacheco JM, Pérol M, Paz-Ares L, Saxena K, Shiga R, Cheng Y, Acharyya S, Vitazka P, Shahidi J, Planchard D, Jänne PA; DESTINY-Lung01 Trial Investigators. Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in HER2-Mutant Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2022;386(3):241-251.
Skoulidis F*, Li BT*, Dy GK, Price TJ, Falchook GS, Wolf J, Italiano A, Schuler M, Borghaei H, Barlesi F, Kato T, Curioni-Fontecedro A, Sacher, Spira A, Ramalingam SS, Takahashi T, Besse B, Anderson A, Ang A, Tran Q, Mather O, Henary H, Ngarmchamnanrith G, Friberg G, Velcheti V, Govindan R. Sotorasib for Lung Cancers with KRAS p.G12C Mutation. N Engl J Med. 2021; 384:2371-2381. *Co-first authors
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Hong DS, Fakih MG, Strickler JH, Desai J, Durm GA, Shapiro GI, Falchook GS, Price TJ, Sacher A, Denlinger CS, Bang YJ, Dy GK, Krauss JC, Kuboki Y, Kuo JC, Coveler AL, Park K, Kim TW, Barlesi F, Munster PN, Ramalingam SS, Burns TF, Meric-Bernstam F, Henary H, Ngang J, Ngarmchamnanrith G, Kim J, Houk BE, Canon J, Lipford JR, Friberg G, Lito P, Govindan R, Li BT. KRASG12C inhibition with sotorasib in advanced solid tumors. N Engl J Med. 2020; 383:1207-1217
Li BT, Daly B, Gospodarowicz M, Bertagnolli MM, Brawley OW, Chabner BA, Fashoyin-Aje L, de Claro RA, Franklin E, Mills J, Legos J, Kaucic K, Li M, The L, Hou T, Wu TH, Albrecht B, Shao Y, Finnegan J, Qian J, Shahidi J, Gasal E, Tendler C, Kim G, Yan J, Morrow PK, Fuchs CS, Zhang L, LaCaze R, Oelrich S, Murphy MJ, Pazdur R, Rudd K, Wu YL. Reimagining patient-centric cancer clinical trials: a multi-stakeholder international coalition. Nat Med. 2022; 28(4):620-626.
Zhao Y, Murciano-Goroff YR, Xue JY, Ang A, Lucas J, Mai TT, Da Cruz Paula AF, Saiki AY, Mohn D, Achanta P, Sisk AE, Arora KS, Roy RS, Kim D, Li C, Lim LP, Li M, Bahr A, Loomis BR, de Stanchina E, Reis-Filho JS, Weigelt B, Berger M, Riely G, Arbour KC, Lipford JR*, Li BT*, Lito P*. Diverse alterations associated with resistance to KRAS(G12C) inhibition. Nature. 2021; 599(7886):679-683. *Co-senior authors
Li BT, Shen R, Buonocore D, Olah ZT, Ni A, Ginsberg MS, Ulaner GA, Offin M, Feldman D, Hembrough T, Cecchi F, Schwartz S, Pavlakis N, Clarke S, Won HH, Brzostowski EB, Riely GJ, Solit DB, Hyman DM, Drilon A, Rudin CM, Berger MF, Baselga J, Scaltriti M, Arcila ME, Kris MG. Ado-trastuzumab emtansine for patients with HER2-mutant lung cancers: Results from a phase II basket trial. J Clin Oncol. 2018; 36(24):2532-2537
Li BT, Michelini F, Misale S, Cocco E, Baldino L, Cai Y, Shifman S, Tu H-Y, Myers ML, Xu C, Mattar M, Khodos M, Little M, Qeriqi B, Weitsman G, Wilhem C, Lalani AS, Diala I, Freedman RA, Lin NU, Solit DB, Berger, Barber PR, Ng T, Offin M, Isbell JM, Jones DR, Yu HA, Thyparambil S, Liao W-L, Bhalkikar A, Cecchi F, Hyman DH, Lewis JS, Buonocore D, Ho AL, Makker V, Reis-Filho JS, Razavi P, Arcila ME, Kris MG, Poirier JT, Shen R, Tsurutani J, Ulaner GA, de Stanchina E, Rosen N, Rudin CM, Scaltriti M. HER2-mediated internalization of cytotoxic agents in ERBB2 amplified or mutant lung cancers. Cancer Discov. 2020; 10(5):674-687
Tsurutani J, Iwata H, Krop I, Jänne PA, Doi T, Takahashi S, Park H, Redfern C, Tamura K, Wise-Draper T, Saito K, Sugihara M, Singh J, Jikoh T, Gallant G, Li BT. Targeting HER2 with trastuzumab deruxtecan: A dose-expansion, phase 1 study in multiple advanced solid tumors. Cancer Discov. 2020; 10(5):688-701
Sullivan RJ, Infante JR, Janku F, Wong DJL, Sosman JA, Keedy V, Patel MR, Shapiro GI, Mier JW, Tolcher AW, Wang-Gillam A, Sznol M, Flaherty K, Buchbinder E, Carvajal RD, Varghese AM, Lacouture ME, Ribas A, Patel SP, DeCerescenzo GA, Emery CM, Groover AL, Saha S, Varterasian M, Welsch DJ, Hyman DM, Li BT. First-in-class ERK1/2 inhibitor Ulixertinib (BVD-523) in patients with MAPK mutant advanced solid tumors: Results of a phase I dose escalation and expansion study. Cancer Discov. 2018; 8(2):184-195.
Razavi P*, Li BT*, Brown D*, Jung B, Hubbell E, Shen R, Abida W, Juluru K, De Bruijn I, Hou C, Venn O, Lim R, Anand A, Maddala T, Gnerre S, Satya R, Liu Q, Shen L, Eattock N, Yue J, Blocker AW, Lee M, Sehnert A, Xu H, Hall MP, Santiago-Zayas A, Novotny WF, Isbell JM, Rusch VW, Plitas G, Heerdt AS, Ladanyi M, Hyman DM, Jones DR, Morrow M, Riely GJ, Scher HI, Rudin CM, Robson ME, Diaz, Jr. LA, Solit DB, Aravanis AM, Reis-Filho JS. High-intensity sequencing reveals the sources of plasma circulating cell-free DNA variants. Nat Med. 2019; 25(12):1928-1937. *Co-first authors
Sabari JK, Offin M, Stephens D, Ni A, Lee A, Pavlakis N, Clarke S, Diakos CI, Datta S, Tandon N, Martinez A, Myers ML, Makhnin A, Leger Y, Yu HA, Paik PK, Chaft JE, Kris MG, Jeon JO, Borsu LA, Ladanyi M, Arcila ME, Hernandez J, Henderson S, Shaffer T, Garg K, DiPasquo D, Raymond CK, Lim LP, Li M, Hellmann MD, Drilon A, Riely GJ, Rusch VW, Jones DR, Rimner A, Rudin CM, Isbell JM, Li BT. A prospective study of circulating tumor DNA to guide matched targeted therapy in lung cancers. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2018; 111(6):575-583.
Li BT, Janku F, Jung B, Hou C, Madwani K, Alden R, Razavi P, Reis-Filho JS, Shen R, Isbell JM, Blocker AW, Eattock N, Gnerre S, Satya RV, Xu H, Zhao C, Hall MP, Hu Y, Sehnert AJ, Brown D, Ladanyi M, Rudin CM, Hunkapiller N, Feeney N, Mills GB, Paweletz CP, Janne PA, Solit DB, Riely GJ, Aravanis A, Oxnard GR. Ultra-deep next-generation sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA in patients with advanced lung cancers: results from the Actionable Genome Consortium. Ann Oncol. 2019; 30(4):597-603.
Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Li’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
See all on PubMedPatient Reviews
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Disclosures
Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.
MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.
Bob T. Li discloses the following relationships and financial interests:
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Amgen
Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated) -
Asia Society
Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated) -
AstraZeneca
Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated) -
Boehringer Ingelheim
Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
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Bolt Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated) -
Daiichi Sankyo
Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated) -
Karger Publishers
Intellectual Property Rights -
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press Co., Ltd.
Intellectual Property Rights
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This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.
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