Qiang Liu

Professor of Neurology
VP of Research
Tianjin Medical University General Hospital
Tianjin | China

Qiang Liu, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Neurology and VP of Research at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China. He is the Executive VP at Tianjin Neurological Institute and the Director of “Immunity & Aging” Laboratory. Dr. Liu received his medical degree from Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China and his doctorate in neuroscience from Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, USA. His clinical and research interests are centered on multiple sclerosis and stroke. Recently, he identified the activation of bone marrow cellular lineages after acute brain injury (Sci Transl Med. 2021, Immunity. 2024), discovered the aberrant bone marrow myelopoiesis in patients with multiple sclerosis (Cell. 2022) and revealed innate immune effector cells that impair cognition during brain aging (Nat Neurosci. 2021, Trends Neurosci. 2024). His ongoing projects aim to determine the safety and efficacy of immune therapies targeting bone marrow immunity to treat CNS inflammatory disorders (NCT05154734, NCT05369351, NCT05792462, NCT06548802). He serves as board member in Chinese Society for Immunology (CSI) and Chinese Medical Doctor Association (CMDA-Neurorestoration branch), and the chair of Clinical Neuroimmunology Section at CMDA- Neurorestoration branch.

Selected publications (9 of 123)

1. Liu M, Wang D, Qi C, Zou M, Song J, Li L, Xie H, Ren H, Hao H, Yang G, Li Z, Zhang Q, Zhou J*, Ai D*, Liu Q*. Brain ischemia sustains systemic endothelial Notch1 activity to accelerate atherosclerosis. Immunity. 2024;57:2157. *Co-corresponding authors. Cover article.
2. Cui Z, Xu H, Wu F, Chen J, Zhu L, Shen Z, Yi X, Yang J, Jia C, Zhang L, Zhou P, Li MJ, Zhu L, Duan S, Yao Z, Yu Y*, Liu Q*, Zhou J*. Maternal circadian rhythm disruption affects neonatal inflammation via metabolic reprograming of myeloid cells. Nat Metab. 2024;6:899. *Co-corresponding authors.
3. Zhang W, Sun HS, Wang X, Dumont AS, Liu Q. Cellular senescence, DNA damage, and neuroinflammation in the aging brain. Trends Neurosci. 2024;47:461.
4. Shi K, Li H, Chang T, He W, Kong Y, Qi C, Li R, Huang H, Zhu Z, Zheng P, Ruan Z, Zhou J, Liu Q. Bone marrow hematopoiesis drives multiple sclerosis progression. Cell. 2022;185:2234.
5. Jin WN, Shi K, He W, Sun JH, Van Kaer L, Shi FD, Liu Q. Neuroblast senescence during normal brain aging augments natural killer cell cytotoxicity that impairs neurogenesis and cognition. Nat Neurosci. 2021;24:61. Editorial highlight: Nat Neurosci. 2021;24:2: “Natural killers of cognition” by Valery Krizhanovsky. Editor’s Choice: Sci Immunol. 2021;6:eabg3186: “Killing the buzz: NK cells in the aged brain” by Rachael A. Clark.
6. Shi SX, Shi KB, Liu Q. Brain injury instructs bone marrow cellular lineage to reduce neuroinflammation. Sci Transl Med. 2021;13:eabc7029. Sci Transl Med. 2021;13: Cover article: “Nixing neuroinflammation”. Editorial comment: “Promoting neuroimmune interaction after ICH”.
7. Li Z, Li M, Shi S, Yao N, Cheng X, Guo A, Zhu Z, Zhang X, Liu Q. Brain transforms natural killer cells that exacerbate brain edema after intracerebral hemorrhage. J Exp Med. 2020;217:e20200213.
8. Liu Q*, Jin WN, Liu Y, Shi K, Sun H, Zhang F, Zhang C, Gonzales RJ, Sheth KN, La Cava A, Shi FD*. Brain ischemia suppresses immunity in the periphery and brain via different neurogenic innervations. Immunity. 2017; 46:474. *Co-corresponding authors. Editorial highlight: Immunity. 2017;46:340: “Disarming the killers: brain strikes on NK cells” by Sophie Ugolini.
9. Liu Q*, Sanai N, Jin WN, La Cava A, Van Kaer L, Shi FD*. Neural stem cells sustain natural killer cells that dictate recovery from brain inflammation. Nat Neurosci. 2016;19:243. *Co-corresponding authors. Editorial highlight: Nat Neurosci. 2016;19:176: “Natural killers in the brain’s nursery” by Jonathan Kipnis.