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Biography
Changliang Liu received his B.S. in pharmacology from China Pharmaceutical University in 2005 and obtained his Ph.D.in neuropharmacology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013. He then did his postdoctoral training (2013-2021) with Dr. Pascal Kaeser at the department of neurobiology, Harvard Medical School. In 2022, he joined Westlake University as an Assistant Professor in the School of Life Sciences and established the Laboratory of Neurotransmission. His research focuses on the functional dissection of neuronal communication.
History
2018
Harvard Chinese Distinguished Research Award (CSSA)
2016
Gordon Award (Harvard Medical School)
2013
Fix/Brooks Award (Harvard Medical School)
Research
Neural computation highly relies on two basic types of chemical transmission: synaptic transmission and volume transmission. In synaptic transmission, a presynaptic terminal rapidly and precisely signals to its postsynaptic partner in a point-to-point mode. By contrast, neuromodulators like dopamine and acetylcholine act through volume transmission, where they diffuse to mediate effects over a large area. The Liu lab is interested in the fundamental principles of neuronal communications in the mammalian brain that give rise to consciousness and behavior. We employ a variety of cutting-edge technologies to dissect the activity dynamics and functional architecture of neurotransmission and neuromodulation in health and disease.
Our current research focuses on three directions:
1) The coding principles of dopaminergic and cholinergic systems.
2) The biophysics and molecular mechanisms of synaptic transmission.
3) The next-generation drug discovery technologies for central nervous diseases.
These studies will build the foundation for understanding the nature of brain computation and will ultimately power the development of new therapeutic strategies for treating related disorders.
Representative Publications
1. Changliang Liu#, Xintong Cai, Andreas Ritzau-Jost, Paul Kramer, Yulong Li, Zayd M Khaliq, Stefan Hallermann, and Pascal Kaeser#. An action potential initiation mechanism in distal axons for the control of dopamine release. Science, 375(6587):1378-1385. Mar 25, 2022.
# Corresponding Author, Highlighted in Nature Neuroscience, Media Coverage: Harvard News, ScienceDaily
2. Changliang Liu, Pragya Goel, and Pascal Kaeser. Spatial and temporal scales of dopamine transmission. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Apr 9, 2021.
Media Coverage: Huberman Lab Podcast #39
3. Richard Held*, Changliang Liu*, Kunpeng Ma*, Austin Ramsey, Tyler Tarr, Giovanni De Nola, Shanshan Wang, Arn van den Maagdenberg, Toni Schneider, JIanyuan Sun, Thomas Blanpied, and Pascal Kaeser. Synapse assembly in the absence of presynaptic Ca2+ channels and Ca2+ entry. Neuron, 107 1-17, Aug19, 2020.
* Equal Contribution, Recommended by F1000, Media Coverage: Previewed in Neuron
4. Changliang Liu and Pascal Kaeser. Nanoscale location matters: emerging principles of Ca2+ channel organization at the presynaptic active zone. Neuron, 104(4):627-629. Nov 20, 2019.
5. Changliang Liu, Lauren Kershberg, Jiexin Wang, Shirin Schneeberger, Pascal S. Kaeser Dopamine secretion is mediated by sparse active zone-like release sites. Cell, 172, 706-718, Feb 8, 2018.
Highlighted in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Media Coverage: ScienceDaily, Nature Reviews Neuroscience
For a full list, please visit:
https://changliangliu-lab.com/publications/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LRom-3cAAAAJ&hl=en
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