Roles
Professor of Surgery
Secondary Appointment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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Biography
Dr. Liu is Professor and Director of Vascular Research Laboratory at Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is also the Associate Director of Vascular Biology Institute. He obtained his PhD. from Osaka University, Japan. His research interests span both vascular biology and cancer biology. His interest in the field of vascular biology has focused on (1) development of gene- and stem cell-based therapy for therapeutic angiogenesis in regenerative medicine; (2) elucidating molecular mechanisms for atherosclerosis and vascular inflammation; and (3) investigating the signals and mechanisms underlying homing of endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to wound, ischemia and tumor tissues.
In the field of cancer biology, his research is directed toward elucidation of how dysregulation of the Notch signaling pathway, both in the neoplastic cells and in the tumor stromal cells, leads to melanocytic transformation and melanoma progression. The major goal of his research in this part is to develop novel cancer therapy through targeting the Notch signaling pathway and its down-stream mediator(s), in cancer cells or in tumor microenvironment, for melanoma/cancer treatment. Dr. Liu’s researches are sponsored by federal grants from NIH and state of Florida biomedical research program funding. Dr. Liu has published 80+ research papers, review articles and book chapters. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Honors & Awards
No result found
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Teaching Interests
Dr. Liu serves as graduate faculty for CAB (Cancer Biology) and BMB (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) program in PIBS (Program in Biomedical Sciences) and participates in teaching PhD students. He served or are serving as academic mentor and dissertation committee member for PhD students in PIBS program at University of Miami and Florida International University. He has been actively teaching and mentoring dozens of MD and PhD students, post-docs and research associates. -
Research Interests
My research interests span two areas: (1) Vascular biology: development of gene- and stem cell-based therapy for therapeutic angiogenesis in regenerative medicine; elucidating molecular mechanisms for atherosclerosis and vascular inflammation; investigating the signals and mechanisms underlying homing of endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to wound, ischemia and tumor tissues. (2) Tumor biology: targeting tumor microenvironment, in particular, stromal fibroblasts and tumor vasculatures, through manipulating Notch signaling. The major goal of my research on tumor biology is to determine if the Notch pathway could be a potential therapeutic target for melanoma treatment. -
Publications
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