Biography

Lihong Liu completed his Ph.D. at the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IPS), in 2015. During this period, he developed an innovative gene therapy strategy against HIV-1. He conducted his post-doctoral research at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center from 2015 to 2019 under the guidance of Dr. David D. Ho. There, he focused on new HIV-1 latency reversal agents that target latent cells and reduce cellular toxicity. From 2019 to 2022, Dr. Liu served as an Associate Scientist at the same center, conducting research on SARS-CoV-2-related studies. His work involved isolating neutralizing antibodies, developing rapid antigen test kits, and investigating the antibody evasion properties of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, in addition to studying antibody responses to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

In 2022, Dr. Liu joined the faculty of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University. In 2024, Dr. Liu began his new scientific career at Wuhan University as a full-time professor. His lab's current research focuses on viral evolution, immune responses, and the development of diagnostic tools and therapeutics for emerging and re-emerging viruses.

Research

Dr. Liu's lab focuses on infectious diseases that significantly impact public health and safety in China, as well as on research into emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. His laboratory has long been engaged in research on viral infections and immune responses, focusing on pathogen diagnosis, virus-host interactions, viral immune evasion, antibody isolation and drug screening, vaccine design and evaluation, and gene therapy.

Representative  Publications

1. Wang Q, Guo Y, Bowen A, Mellis IA, Valdez R, Gherasim C, Gordon A, Liu L*, Ho DD*. XBB.1.5 monovalent mRNA vaccine booster elicits robust neutralizing antibodies against XBB subvariants and JN.1. Cell Host Microbe. 2024 Mar 13;32(3):315-321.e3.

2. Wang Q, Guo Y, Liyuan Liu, Schwanz LT, Li Z, Nair MS, Ho J, Zhang RM, Iketani S, Yu J, Huang Y, Qu Y, Valdez R, Lauring AS, Huang Y, Gordon A, Wang HH, Liu L*, Ho DD*. Antigenicity and receptor affinity of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 spike. Nature. 2023 Dec;624(7992):639-644.

3. Wang Q, Bowen A, Ho J, Zhang RM, Valdez R, Stoneman E, Gordon A, Liu L*, Ho DD*. SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies after a second BA.5 bivalent booster. Lancet. 2023 Nov 18;402(10415):1827-1828.

4. Wang Q, Guo Y, Zhang RM, Ho J, Mohri H, Valdez R, Manthei DM, Gordon A, Liu L*, Ho DD*. Antibody neutralisation of emerging SARS-CoV-2 subvariants: EG.5.1 and XBC.1.6. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2023 Oct;23(10):e397-e398.

5. Wang Q, Guo Y, Tam AR, Valdez R, Gordon A, Liu L*, Ho DD*. Deep immunological imprinting due to the ancestral spike in the current bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. Cell Reports Medicine. 2023 Nov 21;4(11):101258.

6. Liu L*#, Casner RA#, Guo Y#, Wang Q#, Iketani S#, Chan JFW#, Yu J, Dadonaite B, Nair MS, Mohri H, Reddem ER, Yuan S, Poon VK, Chan CC, Yuen KY, Sheng Z, Huang Y, Bloom JD, Shapiro L*, Ho DD*. Antibodies targeting a quaternary site on SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein prevent viral receptor engagement by conformational locking. Immunity. 2023 Oct 10;56(10):2442-2455.e8.

7. Wang Q, Li Z, Guo Y, Mellis IA, Iketani S, Liu M, Yu J, Valdez R, Lauring AS, Sheng Z, Gordon A, Liu L*, Ho DD*. Evolving antibody evasion and receptor affinity of the Omicron BA.2.75 sublineage of SARS-CoV-2. iScience. 2023 Oct 18;26(11):108254.

8. Wang Q, Yeh AY, Guo Y, Mohri H, Yu J, Ho DD*, Liu L*. Impaired potency of neutralizing antibodies against cell-cell fusion mediated by SARS-CoV-2. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2023 May 3:2210237. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2210237. Epub ahead of print.

9. Wang Q, Iketani S, Li Z, Liu Liyuan, Guo Y, Huang Y, Bowen AD, Liu M, Wang M, Yu J, Valdez R, Lauring AS, Sheng Z, Wang HH, Gordon A, Liu L*, Ho DD*. Alarming antibody evasion properties of rising SARS-CoV-2 BQ and XBB subvariants. Cell. 2023 doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.12.018.

10. Wang Q, Bowen A, Tam AR, Valdez R, Stoneman E, Mellis IA, Gordon A, Liu L*, Ho DD. SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies after bivalent versus monovalent booster. Lancet Infect Dis. 2023 May;23(5):527-528.

11. Wang Q, Bowen A, Valdez R, Gherasim C, Gordon A, Liu L*, Ho DD*. Antibody Response to Omicron BA.4-BA.5 Bivalent Booster. N Engl J Med. 2023 Feb 9;388(6):567-569.

12. Wang Q, Li Z, Ho J, Guo Y, Yeh AY, Mohri H, Liu M, Wang M, Yu J, Shah JG, Chang JY, Herbas F, Yin MT, Sobieszczyk ME, Sheng Z, Liu L*, Ho DD*. Resistance of SARS-CoV-2 omicron subvariant BA.4.6 to antibody neutralisation. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022 Oct 31:S1473-3099(22)00694-6.

13. Wang Q, Iketani S, Li Z, Guo Y, Yeh AY, Liu M, Yu J, Sheng Z, Huang Y, Liu L*, Ho DD*. Antigenic characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant BA.2.75. Cell Host Microbe. 2022 Sep 6:S1931-3128(22)00419-X.

14. Wang Q, Guo Y, Iketani S, Nair MS, Li Z, Mohri H, Wang M, Yu J, Bowen AD, Chang JY, Shah JG, Nguyen N, Chen Z, Meyers K, Yin MT, Sobieszczyk ME, Sheng Z, Huang Y, Liu L* & Ho DD*. Antibody evasion by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, & BA.5. Nature. 2022 Jul 5:1-3.

15. Liu L#, Iketani S, Guo Y, Reddem ER, Casner RG, Nair MS, Yu J, Chan JF, Wang M, Cerutti G, Li Z, Morano NC, Castagna CD, Corredor L, Chu H, Yuan S, Poon VK, Chan CC, Chen Z, Luo Y, Cunningham M, Chavez A, Yin MT, Perlin DS, Tsuji M, Yuen KY, Kwong PD, Sheng Z, Huang Y, Shapiro L & Ho DD. An antibody class with a common CDRH3 motif broadly neutralizes sarbecoviruses. Science Translational Medicine. 2022; 14(646):eabn6859.

16. Iketani S#, Liu L#, Guo Y#, Liyuan Liu#, Chan JF#, Huang Y, Wang M, Luo Y, Yu J, Chu H, Chik KK, Yuen TT, Yin MT, Sobieszczyk ME, Huang Y, Yuen KY, Wang HH, Sheng Z & Ho DD. Antibody evasion properties of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineages. Nature 2022; 604(7906):553-6.

17. Liu L#, Iketani S#, Guo Y#, Chan JF#, Wang M#, Liyuan Liu#, Luo Y, Chu H, Huang Y, Nair MS, Yu J, Chik KK, Yuen TT, Yoon C, To KK, Chen H, Yin MT, Sobieszczyk ME, Huang Y, Wang HH, Sheng Z, Yuen KY & Ho DD. Striking antibody evasion manifested by the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Nature 2022; 602(7898):676-81.

18. Cerutti G#, Guo Y#, Liu L#, Liyuan Liu#, Zhang Z, Luo Y, Huang Y, Wang HH, Ho DD, Sheng Z & Shapiro L. Cryo-EM structure of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike. Cell Rep. 2022 Mar 1;38(9):110428.

19. Iketani S#, Liu L#, Nair MS#, Chandrashekar A, Mohri H, Wang M, Barouch DH, Huang Y, and Ho DD. Ad26.COV2.S boosts humoral and cellular immune responses following BNT162b2 vaccination. Emerging Microbes & Infections 2021; 10(1):2220-2222.

20. Wang P#, Nair MS#, Liu L#, Iketani S#, Luo Y, Guo Y, Wang M, Yu J, Zhang B, Kwong PD, Graham BS, Mascola JR, Chang JY, Yin MT, Sobieszczyk M, Kyratsous CA, Shapiro L, Sheng Z, Huang Y, and Ho DD. Nature 2021; Antibody Resistance of SARS-CoV-2 Variants B.1.351 and B.1.1.7. Nature 2021;593, 130-135.

21. Liu L#, Wang P, Nair MS, Yu J, Rapp M, Wang Q, Luo Y, Chan JF, Sahi V, Figueroa A, Guo XV, Cerutti G, Bimela J, Gorman J, Zhou T, Chen Z, Yuen KY, Kwong PD, Sodroski JG, Yin MT, Sheng Z, Huang Y, Shapiro L and Ho DD. Potent neutralizing antibodies against multiple epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 spike. Nature 2020; 584(7821): 450-456.

22. Wang P#, Liu L#, Nair MS#, Yin MT#, Luo Y, Wang Q, Yuan T, Mori K, Solis AG, Yamashita M, Purpura LJ, Laracy JC, Yu J, Sodroski J, Huang Y and Ho DD. SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibody Responses Are More Robust in Patients with Severe Disease. Emerging Microbes & Infections 2020;9(1):2091-2093.

23. Wang Q#, Liu L#, Ren W, Gettie A, Wang H, Liang Q, Shi X, Montefiori DC, Zhou T and Zhang L. A Single Substitution in gp41 Modulates the Neutralization Profile of SHIV during In Vivo Adaptation. Cell Rep 2019; 27(9): 2593-2607.

24. Liu L#, Wang W, Matz J, Ye C, Bracq L, Delon J, Kimata JT, Chen Z, Benichou S and Zhou P. The Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Variable Region of Llama Heavy Chain-Only Antibody JM4 Efficiently Blocks both Cell-Free and T Cell-T Cell Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1. J Virol 2016; 90(23): 10642-10659.

25. Liu L#, Wen M, Zhu Q, Kimata JT and Zhou P. Glycosyl Phosphatidylinositol-Anchored C34 Peptide Derived From Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Gp41 Is a Potent Entry Inhibitor. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 2016; 11(3): 601-10.

26. Liu L#, Wang W, Yang L, Ren H, Kimata JT and Zhou P. Trimeric glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored HCDR3 of broadly neutralizing antibody PG16 is a potent HIV-1 entry inhibitor. J Virol 2013; 87(3): 1899-905.

27. Liu L#, Wen M, Wang W, Wang S, Yang L, Liu Y, Qian M, Zhang L, Shao Y, Kimata JT and Zhou P. Potent and broad anti-HIV-1 activity exhibited by a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol- anchored peptide derived from the CDR H3 of broadly neutralizing antibody PG16. J Virol 2011; 85(17): 8467-76.