Memorial Sloan Kettering medical oncologist Bob Li

Bob T. Li, MD, PhD, MPH

Medical Oncologist

Titles

Physician Ambassador to China and Asia-Pacific, Bobst International Center; Co-Director, Thoracic Liquid Biopsy Program; Chief Scientific Officer, MSK Direct

Clinical Expertise

Lung Cancers; Solid Tumor Precision Medicine; Novel Drug Development; Liquid Biopsy; International Clinical Trials

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Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., (Eastern time)
Accepted Insurance Providers

Dr. Li accepts the following list of insurance providers. Select your insurance provider to see more details.

Aetna

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO, EPO PPO, POS, Transplant

Aetna Medicare Advantage (City of NY retirees only, starting 9/1/23)

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO

Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO, PPO

Blue Cross Blue Shield New York

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

Blue Cross Blue Shield states outside of NY/NJ

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO, EPO PPO, POS

Blue Cross Health Plus

Payor Type: Medicaid/Managed Medicaid
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO

Carrum Health

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): Supplemental

Cigna

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, POS, HMO

Connecticare

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): POS, EPO, HMO

Emblem

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

Emblem Essential

Payor Type: Medicaid/Managed Medicaid
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO

Emblem Medicare Advantage

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, HMO

Empire Blue Cross Medicare Advantage

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, HMO, DSN

Empire Essential

Payor Type: Medicaid/Managed Medicaid
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO

Empire Plan / NYSHIP (Blue Cross/UnitedHealthcare split plan)

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO

Fidelis

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO, EPO

Fidelis Managed Medicaid & HARP

Payor Type: Medicaid/Managed Medicaid
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO

Fidelis Medicare Advantage

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO

First Health

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO

Healthfirst

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): EPO, HMO, PPO, POS

Healthfirst Managed Medicaid

Payor Type: Medicaid/Managed Medicaid
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO

Healthfirst Medicare Advantage

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO, PPO

Healthsmart

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO EPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (HMO)

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (PPO)

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier I (EPO)

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): EPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier II (EPO)

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): EPO

Horizon Medicare Advantage

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, HMO

Husky CT Medicaid

Payor Type: Medicaid/Managed Medicaid
In Network Coverage Type(s): State Government

Magnacare

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, POS, EPO

Straight NJ Medicaid

Payor Type: Medicaid/Managed Medicaid
In Network Coverage Type(s): State Government

Straight NY Medicaid

Payor Type: Medicaid/Managed Medicaid
In Network Coverage Type(s): State Government

Medicare Part A&B (traditional Medicare)

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): Federal Government

Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): Supplemental

MVP

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO/OAP

Non-Participating Plans with Out of Network Benefits

Payor Type: Other
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

NYC Medicare Advantage Plus for City Employees

Payor Type: Medicare/Medicare Advantage
In Network Coverage Type(s): TBD

Oscar

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): HMO/EPO

Oxford

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, EPO

World Trade Center Health Program (WTC)

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): State Government

Qualcare

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, POS, HMO

Tricare

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, HMO

UMR

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, POS

United Healthcare

Payor Type: Commercial
In Network Coverage Type(s): PPO, POS, HMO

Contact and Location

Locations map
Find a Convenient Location

Memorial Sloan Kettering has locations throughout New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, and Westchester. These locations offer many services, including screening, chemotherapy, and medical testing.

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About Me

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

Fellowships

Medical Oncology - Royal North Shore Hospital/University of Sydney; Medical Oncology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

Internal Medicine; Medical Oncology (Australia)

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 Chief Scientific Officer for MSK Direct, I oversee the research agenda for our institutional digital outreach strategy in expanding patient access to MSK’s expertise. 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.

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.

-Dr. Li

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

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.

See all Thoracic Oncology Service doctors

See all Early Drug Development Service doctors

Clinical Trials

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Smiling doctors in the lab
Find a Clinical Trial for You

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 trials

Research 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

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, WilhemC, 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

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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.

Publications on PubMed

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 PubMed

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:

  • Amgen
    Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • Asia Society
    Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • AstraZeneca
    Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • BeiGene, Ltd.
    Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • Bolt Biotherapeutics, Inc.
    Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • Daiichi Sankyo
    Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • Karger Publishers
    Intellectual Property Rights
  • Roche
    Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press Co., Ltd.
    Intellectual Property Rights

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2021 through disclosure submission in spring 2022). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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