MD
Surgical Oncologist
Cancer care is the one field where you never let your patients go. It’s very fulfilling to look at scans years later and be able to tell a patient, you no longer have any evidence of disease.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
Surgery – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Research Fellowship – Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Surgical Oncology – University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery
General Surgery – American Board of Surgery
Shen Li, MD, is a Surgical Oncologist at City of Hope® Cancer Center Chicago, where he treats patients with a wide range of cancer types using the innovative, often-minimally invasive, procedures. His goal as a physician is to use his skills in the operating room to offer hope to those who have been diagnosed with life-threatening diseases, with specialization in complex gastrointestinal cancers, soft tissue disease and hepato-pancreato-biliary conditions.
Dr. Li had a love of science from an early age. “I realized the best way to put this to use was working with patients,” he says. “It is immensely fulfilling to help people—and when a doctor cares about his patient, that patient receives better care.”
After earning his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania, Dr. Li completed a surgery residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a fellowship in surgical oncology at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He also completed a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
In addition to his broad surgical expertise, including training in robotic-assisted surgeries, Dr. Li is a researcher and scholar who has produced dozens of articles and multiple presentations on a wide range of topics, while also conducting research into innovative cellular therapies for liver cancer metastases. His work has been published in Nature, Gut, JCI Insight and The FACEB Journal.
He was drawn to City of Hope because its dedication to patients matched his own philosophy of care.
“We are a group of people who are patient-centered and passionate about what we’re doing,” Dr. Li says. “Patients can see medical, surgical and radiation oncologists on the same day, so they don’t have to wait to start their cancer journey.”
Dr. Li is a member of multiple associations and societies, including the American College of Surgeons, the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and the American Association for Cancer Research. In addition to English, he speaks fluent Mandarin.
In his spare time, Dr Li spends his free time cooking, playing sports and spending time with his wife and young daughter.