Dr. Zhaoping Li received her medical training and doctorate in Physiology from Beijing University, China.  She is a board certified Internal Medicine Physician and a board certified Nutrition Physician Specialist from the American College of Nutrition.  A member of numerous professional organizations including the American Society of Nutrition, the Obesity Society and American College of Nutrition Society, Dr. Li joint the faculty of UCLA in 1997.  Currently she is a Professor of Medicine, teaches at UCLA School of Medicine, practices at Ronald Regan Hospital and directs the Clinical Research Unit at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, overseeing the research coordinator, clinical dietitians and clinical fellows.
 
Dr. Li is the recipient of two grants from the NIH and two from the Veteran’s Administration. She has been Principal Investigator for over 30 investigator-initiated and industry- sponsored clinical trials in the fields of nutrition, obesity and botanical research.  She has published over 50 papers in peer reviewed journals such as JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Journal of American Dietetic Association, Journal of Biological Chemistry etc. Her 2004 paper “Meta-analysis: pharmacologic treatment of obesity” has become the position paper for obesity pharmacotherapy.