Membrane fusion and cell-to-cell transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Shan-Lu Liu, MD, PhD

Professor and Program Director

Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program

Center for Retrovirus Research

The Ohio State University

Dr. Shan-Lu Liu is a Professor of Virology and Co-Director of the Viruses and Emerging Pathogens’ Program of The Ohio State University’s Infectious Diseases Institute. He is also Associate Director of the Center for Retrovirus Research of Ohio State. He obtained his PhD from the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle before being recruited to McGill University as Canada Research Chair. He joined The Ohio State University in 2016. Dr. Liu’s research is focused on virus-host interaction, particularly host factors that modulate viral membrane fusion, entry, and release. In the last few years, research from Dr. Liu’s lab has provided insights for understanding how some host restriction factors IFITM, LY6E, TIM and SERINC limit infection by HIV, Ebolavirus, Zika virus, and SARS-CoV-2, as well as how these viruses evolve antagonism to counteract the host restrictions. For COVID-related research, Dr. Liu has been focusing on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 entry, membrane fusion, cell-to-cell transmission, immune responses, as well as vaccine development. Dr. Liu serves as Editor of Journal of Virology and is an elected Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).