Tiffany Li, PhD, Awarded Scholarship for Neuropathy Research
Tiffany Li, PhD, has been awarded the 2025 Clinical Research Training Scholarship (CRTS) to support her important research on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). The CRTS is a multi-year scholarship program providing funding for emerging experts in neuropathy, supporting their efforts to advance treatments, prevention, or cures for peripheral neuropathy (PN).
Tiffany Li’s research will focus on CIPN, a condition that affects up to 90% of cancer patients treated with certain types of chemotherapy. These chemotherapies can damage nerves, causing pain, numbness, and problems with movement. Right now, doctors don’t have reliable ways to spot nerve damage early enough to prevent it from getting worse. With this scholarship , Li will work on finding new ways to detect this damage early, which could help cancer survivors feel better and live healthier lives.
Tiffany Li’s research
Li’s work aims to find special markers in the body that can show when nerve damage is starting, before it becomes a bigger problem. By finding these markers, Li hopes to help doctors detect nerve damage during chemotherapy and adjust treatment if needed. Catching damage early could reduce the long-term effects of CIPN. This is especially important for younger and older cancer patients, who are affected more by nerve damage.
“One key reason for my interest in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, is that unlike many other neuropathies, it provides a unique predictability—we know exactly what the toxic insult is, neurotoxic chemotherapies, and we can pinpoint its onset with precision, tied directly to the administration treatment.”
Tiffany Li
Li’s research could also help doctors figure out which patients are most at risk for severe nerve damage. That would allow doctors to give patients more personalized care and treatment plans. Ultimately, Li’s work could improve how we manage CIPN and help cancer survivors live better lives.
About Tiffany Li, PhD
Tiffany Li, PhD, is a researcher at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health. She earned her PhD in 2024, and also holds a master’s degree in Biostatistics from Macquarie University. Li’s research focuses on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and she has lots of experience in studying nerve excitability. She has received several awards for her work, including the Jonathon Pembroke Award at the 2024 Peripheral Nerve Society meeting.
With the help of the CRTS, Li will continue her important work to improve how we detect and treat chemotherapy-induced neuropathy. Her research has the potential to help cancer patients and survivors get better care and have a higher quality of life.
Supporting early career researchers
By supporting researchers like Li, the CRTS program is making progress in the field of neuropathy research and bringing us closer to better treatments for these conditions. This early-career exposure to researchers like Li strengthens the case for these experts to stick with PN research—laying the groundwork for more treatments and ultimately, cures, in the future.
Li’s two-year $150,000 scholarship is funded solely by the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy (FPN) in partnership with the American Brain Foundation and the American Academy of Neurology. If you’d like to learn more about how you can join us in this initiative, please contact us at [email protected].
