Professor of Neurology
Director of Neurodegenerative disease laboratory
Tianjin Medical University General Hospital
Tianjin, China

Qiang Liu, MD, PhD, is a clinical neuroimmunologist and a professor in the Department of Neurology at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital. He is Director of Neurodegenerative Disease Laboratory and VP of Research at Tianjin Neurological Institute. Dr. Liu received his medical degree from Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China and his doctorate in neuroscience from Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, U.S. 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), discovered the aberrant bone marrow myelopoiesis in patients with multiple sclerosis (Cell 2022) and revealed innate immune effectors that impair cognition during brain aging (Nat Neurosci 2021). His ongoing projects aim to determine the safety and efficacy of immune therapies targeting bone marrow immunity to treat CNS inflammatory disorders (NCT05154734, NCT05369351). He serves as committee members in Chinese Neurological Association (Neurovascular Disease Section) and Chinese Society for Immunology (Neuroimmunology Section).

Selected publications (6 of 103)

  1. Shi K, Li H, Chang T, He W, Kong Y, Qi C, Li R, Huang H, Zhu Z, Zheng P, Ruan Z, Zhou J, Shi FD, Liu Q. Bone marrow hematopoiesis drives multiple sclerosis progression. 2022;185:2234.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 story: “Nixing neuroinflammation”. Editorial comment:“Promoting neuroimmune interaction after ICH”.
  4. 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.
  5. 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. Editorial highlight: Immunity. 2017;46:340: “Disarming the killers: brain strikes on NK cells” by Sophie Ugolini.
  6. 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. Editorial highlight: Nat Neurosci. 2016;19:176: “Natural killers in the brain’s nursery” by Jonathan Kipnis.