Liu Lab Team

Learn more about Dr. Liu  

Talia completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in November 2024. Her thesis work focused on characterizing how phosphorylation of splicing factors influences structural features, phase separation, and ligand binding.  She now investigates the structural dynamics of Mineralocorticoid Receptor (MR) in the presence of agonists or antagonists to understand molecular mechanism of actions of various ligands. Her research employs biophysical chemistry, fluorescence microscopy, and cellular assays to gain insight into whether MR agonists and antagonists induce distinct effects on MR structural dynamics and phase separation, with the goal of developing novel therapeutic strategies for muscular dystrophies as well as cardiac and renal pathologies.

Alia completed her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology with Certificates in Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology and Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health in May 2025. Her thesis explored metabolic characterizations of persons across the leprosy spectrum using untargeted high-resolution plasma metabolomics with a focus on micronutrient and energy metabolism. Alia is also experienced in the management and analysis of transcriptomics and epigenomics data. Alia is passionate about the role of big biological data in public health preparedness and discovery for challenges ranging from emerging pathogens to chronic genetic diseases.

Andy graduates from Gunn High School from Palo Alto, CA and currently is a junior undergraduate student at Emory University majoring in Biology. Driven by his passion for biology, he enjoyed biotechnology and biomedical research. Andy has gained hands-on experience of COVID-19 vaccine production in Anitbody Studio Inc based on Hayward, CA. Currently, Andy is setting to understand the evolutionary relationship between the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and its ancestral protein in response to different agonists.

Vinia Li is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Class of 2026. She has a strong sense of responsibility and brings analytical skills to contribute to the ongoing research in the lab. Her work focuses on the characterizing how antagonists of modern mineralocorticoid receptor interact with its ancestral protein.

Anita Wang originally comes from Shanghai, China. She came to Emory University in 2022, majoring in Biology. Anita got in touch with some basic laboratory techniques during high school time, such as yeast cell culture and bacteria transformation. Right now, she focuses on the protein purification and characterization of ancestral corticosteroid receptor (AncCR) ligand binding domain (LBD) and a collaborative project on cystathionine-lyase (CSE).