Weizhen Li

Weizhen Li is a senior scientist in the Precision Cardiology Laboratory (PCL) of Bayer and the Broad Institute. Her work focuses on the discovery and evaluation of novel therapeutic targets for cardiovascular disease. She leverages advanced cellular models, functional genomics, and high-content imaging approaches to uncover disease mechanisms and identify potential interventions that improve cardiac health.

Prior to joining Bayer and PCL, Li completed her postdoctoral training at the Cancer Innovation Laboratory at the National Cancer Institute, where she investigated immune cell dynamics in a volumetric muscle loss mouse model. Her research focused on understanding how immune regulation influences tissue repair and regeneration.

Li earned her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from The George Washington University, where she developed high-throughput functional assays using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). Using these platforms, she studied the effects of cardiac ion channels on electrophysiology, cellular metabolism, and drug responses in vitro, advancing the application of hiPSC-CMs for cardiovascular research and drug discovery.