Research

The Liu lab is broadly interested in the development and application of computational methods to solve problems in pharmaceutical sciences. We integrate pharmaceutical sciences with computer sciences, chemistry, biology, and physics to develop new biotechnologies, understand molecular mechanisms underlying diseases, and design new drugs. We extensively engage in dynamic collaborations with various experimental labs with the goals to bridge the interface of computational, experimental and clinical research.

Specifically, we are interested in the following research areas:

Protein allostery study

We develop and apply methods combining molecular dynamics simulations and artificial intelligence algorithms to investigate protein allosteric mechanism and develop allosteric drugs.

Computer-aided drug design

We collaborate with several labs to develop new drug candidates for the treatment of diseases including cancer, neurological disorders, eye diseases, etc.

CRISPR-Cas9 technology improvement

We investigate the mechanism and CRISPR-Cas9 and design new CRISPR-Cas9 variants to increase its specificity and efficiency towards potential clinical application.

Artificial intelligence (AI) for drug discovery

We develop new technology applying artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms in drug discovery and development.

Big data analysis of health disparity diseases

We are interested in the application of big data analysis to characterize health disparity diseases such as triple-negative breast cancer, eye diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, heart attack, etc.