Wei Liu

Biography

  Dr. Liu received his B.S. degree in 2002, from the Department of Biological Pharmacology at Wuhan University in China. He then joined Dr. Martin Caffrey’s laboratory at the Ohio State University, where he earned his PhD in 2007,and began his studies on lipids, an essential molecular component of all cell membranes controlling the conformation as well as biological behavior of membrane proteins. Following his Graduate studies, Dr. Wei did his postdoctoral work in Dr. Raymond Steven’s and Dr. Vadim Cherezov’s laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, California, where he made innovative contributions to the development of the lipid cubic phase (LCP) technology, and successfully applied this technology to resolving the crystal structures of several important human G protein-coupled-receptors (GPCR), including the human A2A adenosine receptor at 1.8 angstrom resolution. Combining LCP with x-ray free-electron laser technology he was also able to achieve high‐resolution structures of human serotonin receptors from sub-10‐micrometer microcrystals. At the beginning of 2015 Dr. Liu joined Arizona State University as an Assistant Professor, where he has established his own laboratory focusing on developing a high-throughput platform to study high‐resolution GPCR structures.  

Research Interest

  Dr. Liu received his B.S. degree in 2002, from the Department of Biological Pharmacology at Wuhan University in China. He then joined Dr. Martin Caffrey’s laboratory at the Ohio State University, where he earned his PhD in 2007,and began his studies on lipids, an essential molecular component of all cell membranes controlling the conformation as well as biological behavior of membrane proteins. Following his Graduate studies, Dr. Wei did his postdoctoral work in Dr. Raymond Steven’s and Dr. Vadim Cherezov’s laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, California, where he made innovative contributions to the development of the lipid cubic phase (LCP) technology, and successfully applied this technology to resolving the crystal structures of several important human G protein-coupled-receptors (GPCR), including the human A2A adenosine receptor at 1.8 angstrom resolution. Combining LCP with x-ray free-electron laser technology he was also able to achieve high‐resolution structures of human serotonin receptors from sub-10‐micrometer microcrystals. At the beginning of 2015 Dr. Liu joined Arizona State University as an Assistant Professor, where he has established his own laboratory focusing on developing a high-throughput platform to study high‐resolution GPCR structures.