Wai-Yee Li, M.D., Ph.D.

When patients are diagnosed with cancer, many ask, "How will I look once my cancer is taken away?" As a wife and mother of two daughters, Wai-Yee Li, M.D., Ph.D., recognizes the importance of restoring patients after cancer surgery. “Whether it's the face or the breast, people want to look and feel as normal as they can after their cancer is removed. Surviving cancer is about having a good quality of life and feeling great about yourself." 

 

Dr. Li specializes in postcancer reconstruction all over the body and her clinical areas of expertise include single-stage breast reconstruction, oncoplastic breast reconstruction (reduction and mastopexy, or breast lift), direct-to-implant after mastectomy, Goldilocks procedure, aesthetic flat closure and latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap reconstruction. She recently ‘invented’ the combined Bra-Line Back-Lift Latissimus flap’ procedure. Not only is tissue from the back used to create a breast after mastectomy, but the back ‘rolls’ are also improved, using a scar that can usually be hidden within the bra line. She is also often involved with complex reconstruction of the perineal region, including vaginal and vulval reconstruction and pelvic floor restoration in patients with advanced gynecological and colorectal cancers. 

 

A board-certified diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Dr. Li is also a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Born and raised in London, England, Dr. Li is of Chinese origin and is fluent in Cantonese. She earned her Bachelor of Science in pathology, with honors, from the University of Birmingham, England, where she also completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery.

 

Dr. Li first encountered breast cancer patients as a general surgery resident at the world-renowned Royal Marsden Hospital, London, England. Her first experience with breast reconstruction was performing a latissimus flap breast reconstruction for a mastectomy patient in 1997. This served as the trigger to embark upon plastic and reconstructive surgery training at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. She went on to pursue a Ph.D. in wound healing and craniofacial development, at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, granted by the University of Manchester.

 

She is the recipient of multiple fellowships including The Joint American College of Surgeons and Royal College of Surgeons of England USA Fellowship, the CHLA Research Institute Career Development Award and the Wound Healing Foundation/3M Fellowship and the American College of Surgeons Excellence in Research Award. Dr. Li then completed her six-year residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at University of Southern California in Los Angeles. This was followed by a craniofacial fellowship at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

 

Dr. Li has been awarded multiple honors, awards and scholarships and holds active memberships with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, California Society of Plastic Surgeons, Society of Asian Academic Surgeons and the World Association of Plastic Surgeons of Chinese Descent. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and is frequently invited to present her work at international conferences and meetings, including those in England, Scotland, Singapore, Hong Kong and China.

 

She serves as a reviewer for The Aesthetic Surgery Journal, HAND, BMJ Case Reports and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery GO, and is on the editorial board for the journal Annals of Plastic Surgery. She has been on the scientific committee for the California Society of Plastic Surgeons annual meetings. In 2022, she served as moderator at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, as well as the American Society of Plastic Surgery annual meeting. As a volunteer clinical faculty member for the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, and the General Surgery Residency Program at Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, California, she trains and mentors future plastic surgeons, including plastic surgery and general surgery residents and medical students.

 

As a clinical researcher, Dr Li believes in providing optimal reconstruction for her cancer patients. Her current clinical research focuses on the Bra-line Back Lift LAT flap, short-stay management of fungating breast cancers, the role of surgery in dermal metastases in breast cancer, optimizing esthetic flat closure after mastectomy and pelvic reconstruction. She is also sought after by patients to help with ‘salvage’ breast revision cases; restoring those who have had a difficult journey in their breast reconstruction performed elsewhere.