He received his MD from Wenzhou Medical College (China). He received residency training at Wenzhou Medical College and nephrology training at Hua Shan Hospital (China). In 1992, Dr. Cai came to Louisiana State University (LSU) Medical Center and Tulane University for his postdoctoral fellow training. He went on to complete internal medicine residency training at Brookdale University Hospital (New York) in 1997 and nephrology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University in 2000, where he later became a faculty member. Dr. Cai has worked within the Emory University School of Medicine since 2007.