Draft:Xiaorong Liu (neuroscientist)

Xiaorong Liu became interested in retinal structures during her PHD studies at the University of Virginia. Since then she’s had an extensive career in academia as a researcher and professor. During her time at Northwestern University she began her own laboratory, focused on postnatal development of the retina, while also serving as an Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology and Neurobiology. In 2017 Liu joined the University of Virginia as an Associate Professor in the Biology and Psychology Departments. Here, Liu continues her line of research into the development and function of retinal neurons. Her lab also studies mouse models of eye diseases in pursuit of developing screening techniques for early detection of glaucoma.

Education and Career

Between the years of 2003 and 2007, Liu participated in post-doctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco. She then became a research assistant professor of Neurobiology and Physiology at Northwestern University. While at Northwestern University, Liu started her own laboratory in 2008, which focused on research about the visual system.

In 2011, Liu began a tenure-track at Northwestern University. Here, she studied ophthalmology as well as more in depth research with glaucoma in visual systems.

Liu currently works as an assistant professor of biology and psychology at the University of Virginia.

Research

Dr. Liu currently works as associate professor within University of Virginia’s school of psychology but also served as an assistant professor at Northwestern University and a postdoctoral student at University of California San Francisco. The principal investigator has amassed an extensive record of research that combines concepts of psychology and biology. The Liu Lab specifically strives to use neuron damage to detect disease onset and diagnosis. Her laboratory has further explored the role of vision in brain disease, specifically attempting to understand the mechanism behind retinal ganglion cell death during ailment and to preserve vision during illness.

Liu’s lab focuses on the study of the retina during normal development and in diseased conditions. Their primary research interest lies in understanding the regulation and misregulation of these structures, in the context of diseases like glaucoma and retinal ischemia. These illnesses serve as major cause of blindness characterized by progressive retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death and vision loss. Liu and her team have established mouse models of retinal knockout to study RGC death and the involved molecular mechanisms. They combine optical imaging, microelectrode recordings, and fluorescent labeling to study the structural and functional development of these cells as well as how they degenerate. Moreover, the lab is also interested in determining the long term effects of early retinal interference on the development of vision. This involves the exploration of various therapeutic interventions that could potentially slow down or halt the progression of the disease. The ultimate goal of their research is to advance the field of ophthalmology and contribute to the development of effective treatments for neurological illnesses.

Awards and Honors

• Liu received the Dr. Douglas H. Johnson Award for Glaucoma Research in 2011 while working at Northwestern University. This award is given each year to a researcher in the National Glaucoma Research program whose proposal displays promising and innovative ideas within the field of glaucoma.

• While also at Northwestern University, Liu received the William & Mary Greve Special Scholar Award in 2012 to fund her glaucoma and retina research.

• In 2019, Liu received the Mead Honored Faculty Award, which is awarded to a number of University of Virginia faculty members each year to fund their own project through the Mead Endowment Program. Within the program, each awardee creates their own “Dream Idea” project to engage with a small group of students, with the intent to form a deeper bond between faculty and students within the university.

• Liu received the Shaffer Grant in 2023 from the Glaucoma Research Foundation, which is given to aid and advance an investigator’s project in glaucoma research. According to Andrew Iwach, MD, the Glaucoma Research Foundation Board Chair, the Shaffer Grants are intended to aid the innovative ideas within the field of glaucoma that would typically not be funded using traditional sources of funding. Liu was awarded this grant to fund her research on “An In Vivo Biomarker to Monitor Glaucoma Progression.”

Personal Life

Liu married her husband, Jianhua ‘JC’ Cang in 1997 in Charlottesville, Virginia while they were both PhD students at UVA.

Selected Publications

• Cang, Jianhua, et al. “Development of Precise Maps in Visual Cortex Requires Patterned Spontaneous Activity in the Retina.” Neuron, vol. 48, no. 5, 8 Dec. 2005, pp. 797–809, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16337917/, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2005.09.015.
• Mathew, Biji, et al. “Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Retinal Ischemia-Reperfusion.” Biomaterials, vol. 197, Mar. 2019, pp. 146–160, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6425741/, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.01.016.
• Souma, Tomokazu, et al. “Angiopoietin Receptor TEK Mutations Underlie Primary Congenital Glaucoma with Variable Expressivity.” The Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 126, no. 7, 6 June 2016, pp. 2575–2587, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4922711/, https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI85830.
• Thomson, Benjamin R., et al. “A Lymphatic Defect Causes Ocular Hypertension and Glaucoma in Mice.” The Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 124, no. 10, 9 Sept. 2014, pp. 4320–4324, www.jci.org/articles/view/77162, https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI77162.
• Wang, L., et al. “Visual Receptive Field Properties of Neurons in the Superficial Superior Colliculus of the Mouse.” Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 30, no. 49, 8 Dec. 2010, pp. 16573–16584, https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.3305-10.2010.