Education

Ph.D. (2011): Organic Chemistry, The Ohio State University

M.S. (2007): Medicinal Chemistry, Peking University

B.S. (2005): Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University

Background

Dr. Li Cai is Professor of Chemistry at the University of South Carolina Lancaster. He received his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and M.S. in Medicinal Chemistry from Peking University and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from The Ohio State University under the supervision of Prof. Peng G. Wang. He joined the University of South Carolina faculty in 2011 and has been a faculty member at USC Lancaster since 2017.

Dr. Cai is an organic chemist and glyco-scientist whose research interests include carbohydrate chemistry, enzymatic synthesis of carbohydrates, and chemical glycobiology. His scholarship also encompasses chemistry education, including interdisciplinary STEAM approaches that integrate chemistry with visual storytelling, media arts, and emerging technologies to enhance science communication and student learning. He is particularly committed to undergraduate research and mentoring.

Dr. Cai has authored or coauthored more than 50 scholarly publications and has an h-index of 27 (Google Scholar). He serves as an Associate Editor of Chemistry Africa and an Editorial Board Member of Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry and has served as a peer reviewer for 47 scholarly journals. His honors include the USC Denise R. Shaw Excellence in Scholarship Award, USC Distinguished Research Service Award, USC Breakthrough Star Award, and USC Salkehatchie Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship.

Research

Selected Recent Publications (Complete List of Publications)

• Aghasafari, S.; Cai, L.; Malloy, M. Visualizing Protein Structure: Integrating AI, Graphic Storytelling, and Media Arts in STEAM-Based Chemistry Education. Journal of Chemical Education 2026, 103, 1214–1224.

• Grabbe, C.; Cai, L. Regioselective deacetylation in nucleosides and derivatives. ChemBioChem 2024, 25, e202400360.

• Kingsak, M.; Meethong, T.; Jongkhumkrong, J.; Cai, L.; Wang, Q. Therapeutic potential of oncolytic viruses in the era of precision oncology. Biomaterials Translational 2023, 4, 67–84.

• Xue, J.; et al.; Cai, L. Synthesis of monophosphorylated lipid A precursors using 2-naphthylmethyl ether as a protecting group. Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry 2020, 16, 1955–1962.

• Li, Z.; Li, F.; Cai, L.; et al. One-pot multi-enzyme synthesis of rare ketoses from glycerol. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2020, 68, 1347–1353.

• Zheng, Z.; Han, Z.; Cai, L.; Zhou, D.; Chavis, B. R.; Li, C.; Sui, Q.; Jiang, K.; Gao, Q. Highlyregioselective dehexanoylation in fully hexanoylated flavonoids. Tetrahedron Letters 2018, 59, 4442–4447.