Albert P. Li

Albert P. Li is president and CEO of In Vitro ADMET Laboratories (IVAL), Columbia, Maryland, and Malden, Massachusetts. For the past three decades, Li has devoted his scientific career to the advancement of scientific concepts and technologies to accurately predict human drug properties. His research is focused on the development and application of human-based in vitro experimental systems in drug discovery and development. He is a pioneer in the isolation, cryopreservation, and culturing of human hepatocytes and their application in the evaluation of drug metabolism, drug-drug interactions, and drug toxicity.

Early life and education Albert Li was born and raised in Hong Kong. He attended St. Francis Xavier's College, Tai Kok Tsui, where he excelled, particularly in the sciences. After being awarded a scholarship from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point in 1969, he immigrated to the United States and in 1972 obtained a bachelor's degree in chemistry, with a minor in biology. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in biochemical sciences in 1976 at the University of Tennessee, working with the Biology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Li also holds an executive MBA from the University of Maryland, College Park (2002). Specializing in in vitro testing, IVAL provides products and services to pharmaceutical development laboratories across the globe.

After establishing IVAL, Li was the first to report successful cryopreservation of human hepatocytes to retain their viability, functions, and ability to be cultured (plateable cryopreserved human hepatocytes). Li and his researchers have developed numerous hepatocyte-based assays, including higher throughput assays for P450 inhibition, time-dependent inhibition, P450 induction, cytokine suppression of ADME gene expression, and in vitro hepatotoxicity. Drug Metabolism Letters, Chemico-Biological Interactions, Journal of Toxicological Sciences, and Toxicology and Cell Biology.

Notable publications include: Li A. P. (2005) Preclininical in vitro screening assays for drug-like properties. Drug Discovery Today 2, 179–195. Li, A. P. (2008) In vitro evaluation of metabolic drug-drug interactions: concepts and practice. In A.P. Li (Ed.), Drug-drug Interactions in Pharmaceutical Development (1–30). New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Li, A. P. (2009) Evaluation of luciferin-isopropyl acetal as a CYP3A4 substrate for human hepatocytes: effects of organic solvents, cytochrome P450 (P450) inhibitors, and P450 inducers. Drug Metab Dispos. 37(8),1598-603. Li, A. P. (2009) Metabolism Comparative Cytotoxicity Assay (MCCA) and Cytotoxic Metabolic Pathway Identification Assay (CMPIA) with cryopreserved human hepatocytes for the evaluation of metabolism-based cytotoxicity in vitro: proof-of-concept study with aflatoxin B1. Chem Biol Interact. 179(1), 4–8. Li, A. P. and Doshi U. (2011) Higher Throughput Screening Assays for CYP3A4 Inhibition and Induction in Human Hepatocytes. J. Biomol. Screen. 16(8), 903–909. Li, A. P. and Doshi U. (2011) Higher Throughput Screening Assays for Time-Dependent Inhibition of CYP3A4 in Human Hepatocytes. Drug Metabolism Letters 5(3), 183-191(9). Li, A. P., Uzgare A., LaForge Y. (2012) Definition of metabolism-dependent xenobiotic toxicity with co-cultures of human hepatocytes and mouse 3T3 fibroblasts in the novel integrated discrete multiple organ co-culture (IdMOC) experimental system: Results with model toxicants aflatoxin B1, cyclophosphamide and tamoxifen. Chem. Biol. Interact. 199, (1–8). Li, A.P., Yang Q., Vermet H., Raoust N., Klieber S., and Fabre G. (2014) Evaluation of Human Hepatocytes Under Prolonged Culture in a Novel Medium for the Maintenance of Hepatic Differentiation: Results with the Model Pro-inflammatory Cytokine Interleukin 6. Drug Metabolism Letters 8(1), 12–18. Li, A. P. (2012) Editorial: metabolism and drug-drug interaction potential of biotherapeutics. Current Drug Metabolism 13, 881. Li, A. P. (2014) In vitro human hepatocyte-based experimental systems for early identification of drugs and drug candidates with adverse drug properties and biomarker discovery. Biomarkers Med. 8, 1–11. Proctor W.R., Chakraborty M., Korrapati M.C., Morrison J.C., Berkson J.D., Semple K., Chea L.S., Yang Q., Li A.P., Ryan P.M., Spolski R., Leonard W.J., Bourdi M., and Pohl, L.R. (2014) Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin and Interleukin-4 Mediate the Pathogenesis of Drug-Induced Liver Injury in Mice. Hepatology 60, 1741–1752.

Patents Li currently holds six patents: Biological Artificial Liver: U.S. Patent No. 5,270,192 ; filed 02/07/92; allowable June 1993, published Dec. 1993. Artificial liver apparatus and method: U.S. Patent No. 6,858,146 ; filed 02/20/02; allowed and published Feb. 22, 2005. Cell Culture Tool and Method: U.S. Patent No. US 7,186,548 B2; Date of Patent: March 6, 2007. Cell Culture Tool and Method: The People's Republic of China Patent No. 626030; Date of Patent: May 26, 2010. Cell Culture Tool and Method: Japan Patent No. 4609799; allowed in September 2010. Cell Preparation Method: U.S. Patent No. 9,078,430 ; filed Sept 10, 2013; allowed and published March 12, 2015