Thomas L. Li
Co-first author of a 2026 Nature study showing mTORC1 hyperactivity drives reactive astrocytes as a primary, seizure-independent consequence of TSC2 loss, implicating glial dysfunction as a driver of tuberous sclerosis pathology
Postdoctoral Fellow, Bateup Lab · Department of Molecular and Cell Biology & Department of Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley
Bateup Lab, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, California, USA) ↗ Lab lineagetrained under Helen S. Bateup →
Portrait: Bateup Lab / UC Berkeley
Thomas (Tommy) L. Li is a postdoctoral fellow in Helen Bateup's lab at UC Berkeley (Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Department of Neuroscience). He earned his PhD in Chemistry at Stanford University in the labs of Bianxiao Cui and Sergiu Pașca, where he worked on a genetically encoded magnetic protein crystal and on flexible mesh electrodes for long-term electrophysiological recording from brain organoids. In the Bateup lab he studies the function of a brain organoid model of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).
In this Atlas he is co-first author of a 2026 Nature study, from Helen Bateup's lab, using human brain organoids carrying TSC2 mutations plus patient-derived cortical tuber tissue to show that hyperactive mTORC1 signaling biases neural progenitors toward becoming enlarged, pro-inflammatory reactive astrocytes — independent of seizure activity — implicating glial dysfunction as a driver of tuberous sclerosis pathology rather than only a downstream consequence of seizures.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | M | mTORC1 drives cell-autonomous astrocyte reactivity in tuberous sclerosis LI2026C Co-first author using human brain organoids and patient tuber tissue to show that TSC2 loss drives neural progenitors into reactive, pro-inflammatory astrocytes independent of seizures. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 2
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Thomas L. Li.
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- Dirk Hockemeyer Stem-cell biologist whose laboratory builds engineered human stem-cell and mouse models of disease, using genome editing and functional genomics screens.
- Helen S. Bateup Senior/corresponding author of a 2026 Nature study showing mTORC1 hyperactivity drives cell-autonomous astrocyte reactivity in tuberous sclerosis
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