Philip S. Li, M.D., is a Professor of Research in Urology and Reproductive Medicine, Director of the Male Infertility Microsurgical Research and Training Program at the Center for Male Reproductive Medicine Microsurgery, Department of Urology, Cornell Institute for Reproductive Medicine of Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University. He is also an Adjunct Scientist of Reproductive Health at the Center for Biomedical Research, Population Council, located at Rockefeller University. He has been a faculty member at Weill Cornell Urology since 1991.
He was the President (2021-2022) of the Society for Reproductive Medicine and Urology (SMRU), affiliated with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). He was the SMRU program chair for the 2021 ASRM meeting and a member of the ASRM Board of Directors from 2021 to 2022. The ASRM Board honored him with the Outstanding Leadership and Service Award as the President of SMRU in 2022. He was also the Vice President of the Asian Association of Andrology from 2016 to 2021.
Dr. Li has worked closely with his mentor, Dr. Marc Goldstein, for over 40 years. Dr. Li is an internationally recognized expert in no-scalpel vasectomy (NSV) and a leading researcher in male infertility microsurgery. He has been one of the key figures in developing the surgical manual and protocol for the NSV technique, which has become the most popular vasectomy technique in North America. He shares his vast expertise by training several hundred urologists to perform NSV and male infertility microsurgeries worldwide. According to ChatGPT's survey, he is directing the world's best male infertility microsurgical training program.
Weill Cornell Medicine recognized him with the 30-Year Employees Milestone Service Award in 2020. Also, he received the 10-Year ASRM Service Milestone Award to honor his dedicated service on the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) boards and ASRM committees, as well as his role as SMRU President in 2020. Additionally, he received a 20-Year Outstanding Contribution Award from the Chinese Andrology Society in 2015. In 2018, he received the Asian Distinguished Contribution Award for Men's Health from the Asian Association of Andrology. The Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Branch of Andrology, honored him with the "Dr. Guo Yinglu's Extraordinary Contributions Award to Andrology" in 2018, one of China's most prestigious academic awards in Urology and Andrology. He also received "The Best Editorial Peer-review Expert Award for "Dr. Jie Ping Wu's Urology" from the Chinese Urology Association at its 2018 National meeting. He received the Distinguished Founder's Award from the Cornell-China Circle in 2019. He was recognized as one of the 2021 AUA Humanitarian Award Nominees by the Urology Care Foundation. In 2022, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Congress of Chinese Urologists ( WCCU).
Dr. Li has authored and co-authored numerous manuscripts, including 173 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and 13 books and surgical manuals. Dr. Li established the Cornell Brady Urology Studio in 1995. He has directed and produced 65 high-quality educational medical videos on male reproductive medicine, including vasectomy, male infertility microsurgery, male circumcision, and public health. His videos have received numerous awards, including the Best Urology Video Prize (1998, 2006), First Prize for Technical Achievement (2013) by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and the First, second, and third prizes (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2020) at the Annual American Urological Association (AUA) national meetings. He also received the first prize video at the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (SLS) 2007 annual meeting.
He has been actively involved in and played critical roles in many highly respected research projects and clinical trials, these landmark research projects resulting in five cover-page articles in the Journal of Urology ((May 2003, December 2011, March 2012, August 2012, and August 2014). He and his team were the first to create and release two innovative smartphone Apps, "Learning Male Infertility Microsurgery Training" and the "ShangRing Male Circumcision Device Surgical Training," found and downloaded on the Apple and Google Play stores.
Working with Dr. Marc Goldstein, Dr. Li has been actively developing and refining nearly all male infertility microsurgical techniques currently used at Weill Cornell Medical College/New York-Presbyterian Hospital for treating male infertility. His recent pioneer works on the future 4K3D Video Operating Microscopy in male infertility microsurgery were highlighted on the AUANews in May 2019 and received the Second-Best Video Award at the 2020 ASRM meeting.
As a Principal and Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Li discovered the ShangRing in 2007 and has organized clinical trials in China and Africa since 2008. His team has received several multi-million-dollar, impactful grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canadian Challenge Fund, and NIH for HIV prevention through male circumcision since 2011. By working closely with his mentor, Dr. Marc Goldstein, and his colleagues, Dr. Richard Lee, Dr. Li has [played a critical leading role in several international randomized clinical trials (RCT] and surgical training workshops for the ShangRing circumcision technique for the VMMC and HIV prevention in Africa and China. They have completed over 8 RCT and clinical studies on adults, adolescents, and early infants in Africa since 2010.
His ShangRing male circumcision research project in Africa gained global attention, was mentioned by Mr. Bill Gates in his 2012 Annual Report, and was featured in the WHO official pamphlets in 2012 and 2013. The ShangRing initially received WHO prequalification in 2015. Recently, the simplified no-flip ShangRing technique using topical cream anesthesia obtained WHO prequalification in March 2019. The significant impact of the ShangRing on global reproductive health and HIV prevention was also recognized and endorsed by the World Health Organization in August 2020. The ShangRing project's work was listed by the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) under the U.S. Department of State's website in February 2020, a significant contribution to the scale-up of male circumcision efforts in Africa.
The American Urological Association recognized his contribution and invited him to give a state-of-the-art lecture entitled "Urology and Global Health: Global Circumcision- WHO Cares" at the Opening Plenary Session of the 2016 AUA Meeting in San Diego, CA. The African Union Commission invited him and his colleague, Dr. Richard Lee, to present their clinical research work in front of 25 African countries' leaders and representatives in Rwanda in November 2019. He and his team have published several high-impact articles in Nature Urology Review, AIDS, Journal of Urology, the Lancet Global Health, and eBioMedicine (Lancet Discovery Science) since 2010.
His teams achieved high-quality clinical outcomes, efficacy, high acceptance, high satisfaction, and evidence-based safety standards in Africa; the ShangRing is the ONLY male circumcision device WHO has endorsed and supported for implementing VMMC and HIV prevention in Africa.
Dr. Philip Li is a member of the American Urological Association (AUA), the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and the American Society of Andrology (ASA). Dr. Li was a board member of the Membership Committee (2001-2002) of the American Society of Andrology. He is the Past President of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology (SMRU), affiliated with ASRM. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology (SMRU, 2013-2018) and SMRU President 2021-2022, and he was the Vice President of the Asian Andrology Association. He is also a member of the World Chinese Urology Society (WCUA) board. He is also an editor for the Journal of Asian Andrology and a consultant editor for the Journal of Asian Urology. Besides, he has proudly served as a board member for the Video and Award Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) from 2010 to 2020.
