about chris

Dr. Chris Li is a scientist who works at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. As a child growing up in Minneapolis, MI, Chris was exposed to science every night at the dinner table by his parents who were both scientists. Both of Chris’ parents’ interest in science was influenced by their parents, just like his was. His father grew up in New York City’s Chinatown where Chris’ grandfather owned a store that sold Chinese medicinal herbs which influenced his interest in science. Chris’ mother grew up in Monterrey, Mexico. She was the only one of her sisters to go to college where she developed a strong interest in science and her father encouraged her to continue her education in the United States. Chris initially wanted to be a medical doctor, but when he took a course on public health in medical school, he decided he wanted to be a researcher instead! Chris has a daughter in 9th grade at Lakeside. His son is a senior in high school and has recently helped Chris publish a paper!

How did he know he wanted to be a scientist?

"Both of [Chris'] parents were faculty members in the pharmacology department at the University of Minnesota, where they worked together in the same cancer research laboratory. 'I remember them talking about their work every night at the dinner table...I usually didn’t understand, but what was clear was their strong passion for fighting cancer', [Chris said]."

"Although his parents were a big influence, [Chris] didn’t follow them into the lab. He found his calling when he discovered epidemiology, a branch of medical science that aims to prevent illnesses by understanding the factors—such as diet, lifestyle and the environment—that influence disease within given populations."

“'I really didn’t know what epidemiology was until I took a class during medical school,' [Chris] said, 'but I liked the idea of looking for answers that could directly improve people’s health.' " (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

A recent study that Chris published focused on race as a factor that could potentially lead to late-stage breast cancer diagnosis (there are four stages, 4 being the most advanced). He was interested in risks for late diagnosis and improper treatment once someone actually has the disease. It’s been observed that minority women (especially African American, Hispanic, and American Indian) are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stages of breast cancer, aren’t as likely to receive recommended treatment, and often have lower survival rates than white women. 

Chris and his colleagues wanted to get a broad look at the differences in both the stage at which breast cancer is diagnosed and how it is treated between different racial/ethnic groups. The National Cancer Institute began collecting nationwide data on breast cancer diagnoses in 2010 that Chris and his team were able to use. They analyzed information about diagnosis and treatment from 102,064 women of multiple races and looked for patterns. They found that, overall, white women were 30-60% less likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer than African American or Hispanic women. African American and Hispanic women were also 30-40% more likely to receive treatment for their cancer that did not align with the guidelines advised by breast cancer doctors. 

They noticed these disparities between white women and minority women across all cancer subtypes (there are 4 distinct ways the breast cancer cells can look and act), which suggested to Chris that the diagnosis and treatment differences between white women, and African American and Hispanic women was not due to a difference in the actual disease. They think that it has more to do with the access that these groups of women have to health care--this could impact frequency of mammogram screenings, the length of time someone waits after they have an abnormal screening, or the access they have to treatment once they’re diagnosed. Understanding these disparities is important for focusing efforts in health care equality, so that every woman no matter her race or ethnicity has the best chance of early diagnosis and proper treatment for breast cancer.