1983-84 Residency, Beijing Medical University School of Stomatology, China
1988 MPH, University of Alabama at Birmingham
1993 DrPH, University of Alabama at Birmingham
1993-94 Post-Doc (Molecular Epidemiology), University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Early childhood caries
• Molecular epidemiology of cariogenic microbiota
• Diversity of oral microbiota associated with HIV infection

• Effect of HIV and HAART on oral microbial colonization and diversity. (NIDCR/NIH)
• Microbial diversity and genetic characterization of cariogenic biofilm. (NIDCR/NIH)
• Associations of between bacterial colonization in the oral cavity and gastric precancerous lesions, oral squamous cell carcinomas, and other diseases. (NIDCR/NIH)
• Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of oral microbial changes in vitro and in vivo.

Ge Y, Caufield PW, Fisch G.S. Li Y. S. mutans and S. sanguinis colonization correlated with caries experience in children. Caries Res. 2008;42:444-448.

Douglas J, Li Y, Tinanoff N. A literary review of the association between mutans streptococci between caregivers and their children. Pediatric Dent. 2008;30:375-87.

Saxena, D., Caufield, PW, Li, Y., Brown, S., and Jinmei Song. Genetic classification of severe early childhood caries using subtracted DNA fragments from Streptococcus mutans. J Clin Microbiol. 2008;46:2868-73.

Li Y, Ismail AI, Ge Y, Tellez M, Chen Z, and Sohn W. Similarity of bacterial profiles in saliva between African-American mother-child dyads. J Clin Microbiol. 2007;45:3082-3085.

Chen Z, Saxena D, Caufield PW, Ge Y, M. Wang, Li Y. Species-specific primers for detection and quantification of Streptococcus mutans in saliva sample. FEMS Microbiology Letter. 2007;272:154-162.

Caufield PW, Saxena D, Fitch D, Li Y. Population structure of plasmid-containing strains of Streptococcus mutans, a member of the human indigenous biota. J Bacteriol. 2007;189:1238-1243.

Li Y, Yao G, Saxena D, Caufield PW. Genetic profiling of the oral microbiota associated with severe early childhood caries. J Clin Microbiol. 2007;45:81-87.

Li Y, Saxena D, Barnes VM, Trivedi HM, Ge Y, Xu T. PCR-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis in the evaluation of oral microbiota. Oral Microbiol and Immunol. 2006. 21:333-339.

Li Y, Caufield PW, Dasanayake AP, Wiener H, S. Vermund. Mode of delivery and other maternal factors influence the acquisition of Streptococcus mutants in infants. J Den Res. 2005;84:806-811.

Li Y, Ku CYS, Xu J, Saxena D, Caufield PW. Survey of oral bacterial diversity using PCR-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. J Den Res. 2005;84:559-564.

Li Y, Pan Y, Qi F, Caufield PW. Identification of Streptococcus sanguinis using a PCR-based species-specific DNA probe. J Clin Micribiol. 2003;8:3481-3486.

Li Y, Dasanayake AP, Caufield PW, Elliott RR, Butts, JT. Characterization of maternal mutans streptococci transmission in an African-American Population. Dent Clinics North Am. 2003;47:87-101.

Li Y, Wang W. Predicting caries in permanent teeth from caries in primary teeth. An eight-year cohort study. J Dent Res. 2002;81:561-566.

Li Y, Caufield PW, Emanuelsson I, Thornqvist L. Differentiation of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus via genotypic and phenotypic profiles from three populations. Oral Microbiol Immunol. 2001;16:16-23.

Li Y, Wang WJ, Caufield PW. The fidelity of mutans streptococci transmission and caries status correlates to breast-feeding experience in Chinese families. Caries Research. 2000;34:123-32.

Li Y, Caufield PW. Arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction fingerprinting for the genotypic identification of mutans streptococci from humans. Oral Micriobiol Immunol. 1998;13:17-22.

Emanuelsson I, Li Y, Bratthall D. Genotyping shows different strains of mutans streptococci between father and child within parental pairs in Swedish families. Oral Microbiol Immunol. 1998;13:271-277.

Li Y, Navia JN, Bian JY. Caries experience in deciduous dentition of rural Chinese children 3-5 years old in relation to the presence or absence of enamel hypoplasia. Caries Res. 1996;30:8-15.

Li Y, Caufield PW. The fidelity of initial acquisition of mutans streptococci by infants from their mothers. J. Dent. Res. 1995;74:681-685.

Li Y, Navia JN, Bian JY. Prevalence and distribution of developmental enamel defects in deciduous dentition of Chinese children 3 to 5 years old. Community Dent. Oral Epidemiol. 1995;23:72-79.

Li Y, Navia JN, Caufield PW. Colonization by mutans streptococci in the mouths of 3- and 4-year-old Chinese children with or without enamel hypoplasia. Archs. Oral Biol. 1994;39:1057-1062.