Prof. Zhen Liu obtained his Ph.D. degree in Biophysics from Peking University and finished his postdoctoral training at University of Toronto & the Hospital for Sick Children. He joined HKUST as an assistant professor in 2021 and his research focuses on centrosome and cilia defects caused human diseases.
We are interested in two closely related cellular organelles: centrosome and cilia, defects of which cause severe human diseases such as microcephaly and ciliopathy. By applying state-of-art techniques, we focus on translational studies that directly benefit patients with these diseases. Because of the tiny nature of these sub-diffraction structures, conventional light microscopy fails to observe their fine architecture. In Liu lab, we leverage super-resolution fluorescence imaging, with up to 10-fold resolution increase, to observe centrosome and cilia in patients’ cells and diagnose their defects caused human diseases.
Specifically, my lab will address important questions related to the following topics:
