Dr Wenyi Li is an NHMRC Investigator (Emerging Leadership Level 1) and Senior Lecturer in Chemical Biology at the Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, La Trobe University, Melbourne. His research projects mainly focus on the development of antimicrobials to combat nosocomial infections by using his chemical biology expertise and skillset. By fostering an active collaborative research network, Dr Li has obtained several outstanding successful grants, including 1 CIA NHMRC Investigator EL1 grant and 1 CI NHMRC Ideas Grant, as well as CIA Ramaciotti Health Investment Grant.

Dr Li obtained his Bachelor and Master degree (supervised by Prof Rui Wang) from Lanzhou University, China, and received his doctoral degree from The University of Melbourne under the supervision of Professors John D. Wade and Frances Separovic. After two postdoctoral training with Prof Christian Hackenberger at Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Berlin, supported as a Leibniz-DAAD postdoctoral fellow, and second postdoctoral training at the University of Melbourne, he relocated to La Trobe University to start his research group by focusing chemical biology and peptide chemistry for novel drug discovery.

In recognition of the young scientist's excellent contribution to peptide sciences, Dr Li recently received the most prestigious Rennie Memorial Medal from the Royal Australia Chemical Institute (RACI, 2024), Young Investigator Award (Pharmaceuticals, 2025) and a Young Peptide Scientist Award from the Chinese Peptide Society (2023). Dr Li has served as an expert reviewer for several funding systems, such as NHMRC and HFSP, and as the associate editor of the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. In addition to his research, Wenyi is currently serving as the President-Elect of the Victorian Branch of RACI.