Sha Li holds a Ph.D. in physiology from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Science and Technology of China. Li’s research at Princeton focuses on how genetic information controls the embryonic patterning decisions that lead to specific phenotypes. Li will be advised by Ricardo Mallarino, assistant professor of molecular biology.

The fellows program — along with the new Presidential Visiting Scholars Program, which will launch in 2020 — is intended to recognize and support scholars who can contribute to the University’s diversity, broadly defined, including groups that have been historically and are presently underrepresented in the academy or in certain disciplines. Fellows will begin their terms between July 1, 2019, and Jan. 1, 2020.

“The Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellows Program is meant to encourage early-career scholars to pursue a career in academia by supporting their postdoctoral work here,” said Sanjeev Kulkarni, dean of the faculty. 

The program is coordinated by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, with support from the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost. The Faculty Advisory Committee on Diversity, chaired by the dean of the faculty, reviews the nominations and selects the awardees. Up to twelve postdoctoral research associates will be supported each year for a one-year appointment. The award is renewable for a second year.