Dr George Qian Li

Sesquicentenary Lecturer in Herbal Medicines

Qualifications

BSc, MSc, PhD Zhongshan(Sun Yat-sen), G Cert Ed Stud (Higher Ed, Syd), MRACI, MACS

Contact Details

University of Sydney
Phone: +61 2 9351 4435
Fax: +61 2 9351 8638
Email:
Room 503
Badham Building A16
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Research Theme

Cardiovascular and Diabetes

Teaching

Undergraduate and postgraduate teaching on pharmaceutical sciences, in particularly herbal medicines.

Research Interests

Quality standardisation and mechanism of action of botanical medicines for the management of chronic diseases.

Dr Li's research focuses on the quality, biological activities and safety of common herbal medicines such as St John’s wort, propolis, punica, centella, kudzu, and aristolochia. The current directions of the group are:

1. Mechanism of action of botanical medicines for the management of metabolic syndrome, diabetic complications, atherosclerosis and cancer.
2. Bioactivity led quality standardisation of herbal medicines.
3. Evaluation and regulation of toxic Chinese medicines.

Track Record

Dr Li is a chemist working toward an understanding of the quality and mechanisms of herbal medicines for chronic diseases such as diabetes.

Dr George Qian Li is the Sesquicentenary Lecturer in Herbal Medicines, University of Sydney. He received his PhD from Sun Yat-sen University in 1988. He is a Member and Chartered Chemist in Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and a Member of the American Chemical Society. He was a visiting scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and has been working at the University of Sydney since 1990. He was the Coordinator of the Master of Herbal Medicines during 2000-2011.

Dr Li’s research focuses on the pharmacology, quality control and chemistry of botanical medicines for the management of diabetics and metabolic syndrome, supported by national competitive grants including the National Institute of Complementary Medicines (NICM) Collaborative Centre in Traditional Chinese Medicines, and the Australia - China Special Fund. He has received three awards in international conferences. His work on the pharmacology, and chemistry of botanical medicines such as punica and salacia for the management of hyperlipidaemia and diabetics has contributed to the better scientific understanding of botanical medicines. Dr Li has contributed to the establishment of Phytolaboratory which has carried a number of testing for industry. Dr Li has supervised 6 MPhil students, and 2 PhD students (as associate supervisor) to completion.

Dr Li has published 39 papers in peer review journals, 7 book chapters, 2 patents, 14 published abstracts, and contributed to 90 conference presentations up to 2011. The journals include: British Journal of Pharmacology (IF 5.204), Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology (IF 4.042), Current Pharmaceutical Design (IF 4.414). Journal of Ethnopharmacology (IF 2.322). Dr Li has a Scopus H-index of 14 with a Citation count in excess of 415. He has proposed a system approach for bioactivity - led quality standardisation of botanical medicines, and he has contributed to the establishment of the new herbal medicines disciplines at the University of Sydney and in Australia. He was a Committee Member of the International Congress on Complementary Medicine Research (ICCMR) held in Sydney in 2008. He is a peer reviewer of a number of international journals including Current Medicinal Chemistry, and The Cochrane Library.

Current Higher Degree Research students

• Eshaifol Omar -The effects of heat clearing herbs on the expression of TNF-induced adhesion molecules and microparticles in in-vitro inflammatory models. PhD Student, Associate Supervisor: Georges Grau.
• Antony Kam - The potential benefits of Punica granatum (pomegranate) in the prevention and treatment of diabetes and atherosclerosis. PhD Student, Associate Supervisors: Kong Li, Tina Razmovski, Srinivas Nammi, Kelvin Chan.
• Ali Alqahtani - Genetic fingerprinting and authentication of Centella asiatica with wound healing property. PhD Student, Associate Supervisors: Kong Li, Tina Razmovski, Kelvin Chan.
• Ka H Wong - The synergistic effect of traditional Chinese medicine for atherosclerosis and diabetes. PhD Student. Co-supervisors: Kelvin Chan, George Li. Associate Supervisors: Kong Li, Tina Razmovski.

Research Publications

Thompson ISI Researcher ID No: A-4859-2012