Li Ye

2026 National Award Finalist — Faculty

Li Ye

Current Position:
Professor

Institution:
Scripps Research Institute & Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Discipline:
Neuroscience

Recognized for: Revealing how the brain senses and controls the body’s energy use, opening new approaches to treating obesity, diabetes, and neurological disease.

Areas of Research Interest and Expertise:
Neuroscience, Metabolism, Physiology

Previous Positions:

Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University (Advisor: Karl Deisseroth)
PhD, Harvard University (Advisor: Bruce Spiegelman)

Research Summary:

The human brain performs extraordinary computations while consuming remarkably little energy, yet scientists still know little about how energy availability shapes brain function. Li Ye, PhD, is transforming our understanding of the brain by revealing how neural circuits monitor, allocate, and use energy across the body. By combining innovative imaging technologies, chemical biology, and neural circuit mapping, Ye has uncovered previously unknown pathways that link metabolism, behavior, and brain activity. These discoveries establish energy as a fundamental organizing principle of brain function and open opportunities to understand and treat obesity, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, and other diseases influenced by brain-body communication.

“I am honored to be recognized as a Blavatnik National Awards Finalist. My research seeks to understand the conversation between the brain and the body, and how it shapes health and disease. I am excited to be part of this community committed to pushing the boundaries of discovery.”

Key Publications:

  1. Pang Z, Schafroth MA, Ogasawara D, Wang Y, Nudell V, Lal NK, Yang D, Wang K, Herbst DM, Ha J, Guijas C, Blankman JL, Cravatt BF, Ye L. In situ identification of cellular drug targets in mammalian tissue. Cell. 2022 

  2. Wang Y, Leung V, Zhang Y, Nudell V, Loud M, Servin MR, Yang D, Wang K, Moya-Garzon MD, Li VL, Long JZ, Patapoutian A* & Ye L*. The role of somatosensory innervation of adipose tissues. Nature. 2022. 
  3. Lal NK, Le P, Aggarwal S, Zhang A, Wang K, Qi T, Pang Z, Yang D, Nudell V, Yeo GW, Banks AS, Ye L. Xiphoid nucleus of the midline thalamus controls cold-induced food seeking. Nature. 2023.
  4. Yang D, Wang Y, Qi T, Zhang X, Shen L, Ma J, Pang Z, Lal NK, McClatchy DB, Seradj SH, Leung VH, Wang K, Xie Y, Polli FS, Maximov A, Gonzalez OC, de Lecea L, Cline HT, Augustine V, Yates JR 3rd, Ye L. Phosphorylation of pyruvate dehydrogenase inversely associates with neuronal activity. Neuron. 2024.

Other Honors:

2025 SfN Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Young Investigator Award, Society for Neuroscience
2025 NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award, NIH
2024 HHMI Investigator
2023 Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
2022 Young Investigator Award, AJP-Endocrinology and Metabolism
2022 Inaugural Abide-Vividion Endowed Chair, Scripps Research
2020 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2), NIH
2019 Whitehall Foundation Research Grant, Whitehall Foundation
2018 Young Faculty Award, Baxter Foundation
2018 David Mahoney Neuroimaging Program, Dana Foundation

In the Media:

Website