Clark Atlanta University students in Xinle Li’s lab recently had the opportunity to meet 2025 Chemistry Nobel Laureate Omar Yaghi while presenting their research at the ACS Spring Meeting — a fitting moment for a research group whose work builds on advances related to Yaghi’s Nobel-recognized contributions.

Li, assistant professor of chemistry at CAU and a faculty member of PREM for Advanced Interface Materials, received the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award last year, a national honor recognizing early-career faculty in the chemical sciences for excellence in both research and teaching. The award includes an unrestricted $100,000 research grant and, since 1970, has recognized scholars who have gone on to achieve some of the highest distinctions in science, including several Nobel Prize winners.

Since joining CAU in 2020, Li has built a rapidly growing research program focused on organic porous materials for energy and environmental applications. Since 2021, he has also served as lead principal investigator of PREM IRT-2, a project exploring how two-dimensional frameworks such as covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) assemble on functional substrates. The PREM program has played a major role in shaping his independent research career.

“PREM brings together a ‘galaxy’ team of researchers from diverse disciplines and universities, creating a powerful platform for faculty and students to exchange ideas and collaborate on cutting-edge research,” Li says.

In addition to these and other accomplishments, Li has secured more than $9.5 million in research funding as a PI or co-PI, published 29 scientific papers, and built a strong record of student mentorship — further underscoring why this recognition marks a major milestone for both his career and CAU.