Biography

Research

Professor William Li’s research interests focus on two distinct areas. First, he has developed a strong research interest in the field of paediatric oncology. In particular, he has developed a programme of research in working with children who have cancer. His grants and international publications encompass a number of paediatric oncology studies including the impact of cancer and its treatment on children’s physical and psychological well-being, developing and evaluating psychological interventions for children with cancer and those who survived cancer. The second research area involves health promotion for people with health risk behaviours, such as tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity. In particular, he has made significant contributions to the transformation of smoking-cessation interventions and is actively involved in the development and evaluation of innovative interventions to help people change multiple health risk behaviours to reduce the risk of mortality from non-communicable diseases. His work has had critical and substantial impacts on health service, policy and research. Professor Li has published around 200 international peer-reviewed journal articles, a scholarly book and ten book chapters. Additionally, he has obtained research grants totalling over HK$39 million. H-index as of 1 December 2024: 34 (Scopus ID: 8973660200)

Education

Prof Li played key roles in the establishment and leadership of nursing education programs and the design and implementation of innovative teaching methods in a variety of tertiary institutions. He was appointed as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the United Kingdom in 2017, a Specialist of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications.

Professional Services

Prof Li is also the President of the Hong Kong College of Education and Research in Nursing and the Vice-president (Education) of the Hong Kong Academic of Nursing and Midwifery. Prof Li is currently the Associate Editor of Cancer Nursing, and editorial board member of International Journal of Nursing Studies, Journal of Advanced Nursing and Journal of Clinical Nursing.

In recognition of Prof Li’s significant and sustained contribution to nursing research, education development and professional services, Prof Li was awarded a Fellowship by the American Academy of Nursing in 2019 and was made a Fellow of Education and Research by the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing and Midwifery in 2020. Prof Li was listed the top 2% of the world’s scientists in Year 2021, 2022, and 2023 by Standford University.