Academic Background Dr. Shimeng Li is currently a Distinguished Research Fellow (Outstanding Young Talent Program B) and Ph.D. Supervisor in the Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, at Northeastern University (China), a position she has held since March 2025. She earned her B.Sc. in Chemistry (Basic Science Class) from Sichuan University in 2017, where she worked under Prof. Songdong Ding. She then obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2022, as a member of the State Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry, under the supervision of Academician Zuowei Xie. Following her doctoral studies, she conducted postdoctoral research at the Grubbs Institute (Shenzhen) from 2022 to 2025, continuing her collaboration with Prof. Xie. Research Interests Dr. Li’s research program focuses on two interconnected frontiers: Organic Boron Synthetic Methodology: Development of novel catalytic systems, particularly transition-metal-catalyzed and visible-light-promoted transformations, for the efficient functionalization of boron clusters and organoboron compounds. Rare Earth and Actinide Chemistry: Exploration of separation chemistry for lanthanides and actinides, with a specific emphasis on advanced strategies for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and the selective partitioning of americium and europium. At Northeastern University, she is establishing an independent research group to pursue fundamental and applied advances in these areas.