Claire Li

I am a second-year MSK CGSO fellow interested in GI oncology and robotic surgery. I am well-trained to practice across a broad spectrum of general surgical oncology, and I am eager to mold my practice based on the clinical needs of the institution. Complementary to my operative skill set, I am dedicated to the compassionate care of patients, and I highly value the collaborative nature of a multidisciplinary setting to achieve the best care for cancer patients.

• 2010, Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Duke University
• 2011, Dean’s Summer Research Fellowship, Duke University
• 2011, Dean’s list with Distinction, Duke University
• 2013, Graduation with Distinction for Senior Thesis, Duke University
• 2014, R25 Summer Research Experience for Medical Students, NCI
• 2019, T32 Surgical Oncology Research Training Grant, NCI
• 2020, Pilot Research Grant, Plastic Surgery Foundation
• 2020, Excellence in Research, American College of Surgeons

• 2013-2017, Maryland State Medical Society (Med Chi)
• 2014-2017, American College of Physicians
• 2016-2017, American Academy of Family Physicians
• 2016-2017, American Medical Association
• 2017-present, American College of Surgeons
• 2021-present, Society of Surgical Oncology
• 2022-present, Association of Women Surgeons
• 2025-present, Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association

• President, Duke China Care, Durham, NC, 2010, 2013
• Physics peer tutor, Duke University Academic Resource Center, Durham, NC, 2011, 2012
• Tutor, America Reads&Counts, Durham, NC, 2012, 2013
• Volunteer Coordinator, Pediatrics Interest Group, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 2014, 2015
• Residency Oral Boards Coordinator, General Surgery, Cornell University/New York Presbyterian, New York, NY, 2023, 2024
• Surgical Oncology Fellows Schedule Director, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 2024, present

• American Board of Surgery, General Surgery, #75164, 2024
• Intuitive Robotic Surgery Certificate of Training Equivalency, 2024
• Fundamental of Endoscopic Surgery (FES), 2024
• Fundamental of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS), 2024
• New York State Medical License #299423, 06/05/2019, present

• Research Assistant, Roberto Cabeza, Ph.D., Duke University Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, 2009, 2010, Assisted in the data collection and meta-analysis of an investigation into autobiographical memory.
• Howard Hughes Undergraduate Researcher, Nayun Kim, Ph.D., Sue Jinks-Robertson, Ph.D., Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, 2010, 2013, Investigated the effect of transcription on ribonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis in yeast, characterized the role of Topoisomerase-I in the processing of ribonucleotides in DNA, completed senior honor thesis investigating the mechanism behind the generation of de-novo tandem repeats in the yeast genome.
• NCI R25 Medical Student Summer Research Fellow, Steven Chung, M.D., Christopher Park, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Medicine, Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Summer 2014, Summer 2014, Investigated the role of Src family kinases in the therapeutic targeting of CD99 in acute myeloid leukemia, validated phospho flow cytology as a novel assay for analyzing Src protein activation.
• Student Researcher, H Richard Alexander, M.D., Department of Surgery, University of Maryland Medical Center, 2016, 2017, Studied the clinical significance of preoperative thrombocytosis in patients with peritoneal mesothelioma undergoing operative cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
• NCI T32 Surgical Oncology Research Fellow, Babak J. Mehrara, MD., Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering, 2019, 2021, Investigating the relationship between lymphatics, host immunity, and the tumor microenvironment.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles/Abstracts

• Kim N, Huang SN, Williams JS, Li YC, Clark AB, Cho JE, Kunkel TA, Pommier Y, Jinks-Robertson S. Mutagenic processing of ribonucleotides in DNA by yeast Topoisomerase I. Science. 2011 June 24; 332(6037):1561-1564.
• Cho JE, Kim N, Li YC, Jinks-Robertson S. Two distinct mechanisms of Topoisomerase 1-dependent mutagenesis in yeast. DNA Repair. 2013 Mar 1; 12(3):205-11.
• Kim N, Cho JE, Li YC, Jinks-Robertson S. RNA:DNA hybrids initiate quasi-palindrome-associated mutations in highly transcribed yeast DNA. PLoS Genet. 2013 Nov; 9(11):e1003924.
• Li YC, Khashab T, Terhune J, Eckert RL, Hanna N, Burke A, Alexander HR. Preoperative Thrombocytosis Predicts Shortened Survival in Patients with Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma Undergoing Operative Cytoreduction and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy. Ann Surg Oncol. 2017 Aug; 24 (8): 2259-2265.
• Li YC, Alexander HR. Peritoneal Metastases from Malignant Mesothelioma. Surg Oncol Clin N Am. 2018 Jul; 27(3): 539-549.
• Alexander HR, Li YC, Kennedy TJ. Current Management and Future Opportunities for Peritoneal Metastases: Peritoneal mesothelioma. Ann Surg Oncol. 2018 Aug; 25(8): 2159-2164.
• Ginalis EE, Patel M, Li CY, Alexander HR. Current concepts in the diagnosis and management of patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Multidiscip Cancer Investig. 2019 Apr; 3(3):5-15.
• Li CY, Kataru RP, Mehrara BJ. Histopathologic Features of Lymphedema: a molecular review. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Apr 6; 21(7): 2546.
• Kataru RP, Park HJ, Baik JE, Li CY, Shin J, Mehrara BJ. Regulation of Lymphatic Function in Obesity. Front Physiol. 2020 May 15; 11: 459.
• Mehrara BJ, Park HJ, Kataru RP, Bromberg J, Coriddi M, Baik JE, Shin J, Li C, Cavalli MR, Encarnacion EM, Lee M, Van Zee KJ, Riedel E, Dayan JH. Pilot Study of Anti-Th2 Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Breast Cancer-Related Upper Extremity Lymphedema. Biology (Basel). 2021 Sept 18; 10(9): 934.
• Li CY, Brown S, Mehrara BJ, Kataru RP. Lymphatics in Tumor Progression and Immunomodulation. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Feb 15;23(4):2127.
• Li CY, Kennedy T, Alexander HR. Treatment of Patients with Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma. J Clin Med. 2022 Mar; 11(7): 1891.
• Brown S, Li C, Ly C, Gabriela GN, Gardenier J, Aras O, Baik J, Kataru R, Mehrara B. Topical Captopril: A Promising Therapeutic Avenue for Lymphedema Treatment. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2022 Apr; 1:10 (4 Suppl): 24-25.
• Dunne EG, Li C, Kessler E. Supraumbilical Gastroschisis. J Pediatr Surg Case Rep. 2022 Apr; 7: Article 102192.
• Li CY, Park HJ, Shin J, Baik JE, Mehrara BJ, Kataru, RP. Tumor-associated lymphatics upregulate MHC-II to suppress tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Oct; 23 (21): 13470.
• Zambare W, Li C, Crane C, Cuaron J, Wei I, Wu A, Rao D, Nash GM, Pappou E, Williams V, Weiser M, Reyngold M, Paty PB, Zinovoy M, O’Brien DR, Saltz LB, Cercek A, Garcia-Aguilar J, Yaegar R, Smith JJ, Romesser PB. Late Toxicity after Peposertib-Enhanced Chemoradiation in Rectal Cancer Patients Managed with Organ Preservation. eClinicalMedicine. 2025. Under review.

Book Chapters

• Li CY, Jafari MD. HIPEC for Appendix and Colorectal Cancers. In: Shackelford’s Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, 9th Edition. Elsevier. 2025.
• Li CY, Ruffolo LI, Bartlett NK, Wei AW. Principals of Surgical Oncology. Palliative Surgery. In: Pocket Oncology, 4th Edition. Wolster Kluwer. 2025 [In print]

Abstract/Presentations

• Li YC, Khashab T, Terhune J, Eckert RL, Hanna N, Burke A, Alexander HR. Preoperative Thrombocytosis Predicts Shortened Survival in Patients with Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma Undergoing Operative Cytoreduction and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy. Oral presentation at Twelfth International Symposium on Regional Cancer Therapies. February 2017, Snowbird, Utah.
• Li CY, Kataru RP, Shin J, Park HJ, Baik J, Mehrara BJ. Major Histocompatibility Complex II (MHC-II) Dependent Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) Expression on Lymphatic Endothelial Cells (LECs) Promotes Growth of B16F10 Melanoma. Oral presentation at Owen H. Wangensteen Scientific Forum Dedication, American College of Surgeons Virtual 2020 Clinical Congress. October 2020, virtual session.
• Li, CY, Kataru RP, Shin J, Park HJ, Baik J, Mehrara BJ. Major Histocompatibility Complex II Expression on Lymphatic Endothelial Cells Promotes Melanoma and Breast Tumor Growth in Mice. Poster presentation at Lymphatic Forum 2021. June 2021, virtual session.