Lei Liu, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics

Indiana University School of Medicine

Lei Liu went through his Ph.D. training both at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China as well as Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle (IGF) in France and received his Ph.D. degree in 2018.

He started his research work by studying the effects of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in cancer cell biology and moved on to investigate the largest drug targetable membrane receptors - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) later during his Ph.D. training. After that, he went to Institut Cochin in Paris as a Visiting Scholar until 2021.

He has solid backgrounds in molecular biology, cell biology, pharmacology, and structure-function studies in membrane receptors, as well as cutting-edge functional assays like FRET and BRET. His previous work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including eLife, Trends Pharmacol Sci, J Pineal Res and Biochem J as first and co-first authors.

Recently, his father and father-in-law both died of cancers which prompted him to plunge into the fight against cancers. He firmly believes that the immune system of human being is the ultimate weapon to conquer cancers, while he joined Dr. Xiongbin Lu’s lab in 2022 in Indiana University School of Medicine by investigating the potential novel targets and mechanisms involving cancer immunotherapy.

He has strong motivations as well as solid backgrounds, which ensure his substantial progress in the field of cancer studies and therapies.