Professor Li is a professor of physics and the co-director of the Texas Quantum Institute. Her group works in several research areas including low-dimensional semiconductors, magnetic materials, and nanophotonics. She has received several awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in the U. S. and a Sloan Fellowship. She was a Humboldt research fellow at the Technical University of Berlin between 2013-2015. She is a fellow of the American Physics Society, OPTICA, and American Association for the Advancement of Science.