Dr. Renjing Liu

Biography

I am a stem cell biologist with specialized training in vascular biology and epigenetics. I obtained my Bachelor's (Hons) and PhD from the University of Sydney, and was awarded the Sir Keith Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral training at Yale University. At Yale, I trained at the Stem Cell Center, a pioneer in the field of induced pluripotent stem cells and epigenetics, where I received the prestigious Yale Browne-Cox Fellowship and completed my postdoctoral traineeship at the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center. I made a seminal discovery of a master regulator that controls the phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells, the main cell type found in blood vessel walls. Upon returning to Australia in late 2013, I was awarded the Inaugural David Richmond Fellowship and became head of the Agnes Ginges Laboratory for Diseases of the Aorta at the Centenary Institute. In July 2020, I joined the Victorian Cardiovascular Centre Research Institute as a faculty member and head of the Vascular Epigenetic Laboratory, where my lab has received funding from the NH&MRC, Ramaciotti Establishment Grant, and NSW Health. Our research focuses on finding ways to convert pathological vascular smooth muscle cells into physiological cell types to treat cardiovascular diseases.

Research Interests