Yuzhong Liu joins Scripps Research faculty to develop improved vaccines and medicines using synthetic biology
Liu’s research focuses on the biosynthesis of complex natural products in engineered microbes to harness, alter, or augment their innate bioactivities in the context of drug discovery.
May 10, 2023
LA JOLLA, CA– Yuzhong Liu, PhD, will join Scripps Research as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry to develop novel small molecule candidates for vaccine adjuvants—which are molecules added to vaccines to make them more effective—and therapeutics.
At Scripps Research, Liu’s lab will work at the interface of synthetic chemistry and synthetic biology to access complex natural, as well as new-to-nature, glycosides. These molecules are decorated with sugar sequences of varying lengths and compositions that play pivotal roles in their potent innate bioactivities. Glycosides can stimulate the immune response, and have been used to help boost the effectiveness of vaccines. Using directed evolution and tools of analytical chemistry, the Liu lab aims to modify the sugar functionalities of such glycosides to provide novel or improved adjuvants that can be applied across vaccines against different infectious diseases.
Her lab will also engineer sugar sequences on existing drug molecules to reduce the likelihood of adverse reactions. Liu notes that Scripps Research’s bench-to-bedside model of biomedical discovery will be invaluable in the translational aspect of moving these lead candidates into the clinic.
Liu conducted her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Jay Keasling, PhD, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. While there, Liu achieved the complete biosynthesis of QS-21 in engineered yeast, a potent vaccine adjuvant that is an integral part of the FDA-approved GSK’s shingles vaccine, Shingrix, as well as Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine. QS-21 has been and is currently in various vaccine clinical trials, including those for malaria, HIV, hepatitis B, and tuberculosis.
Prior to that, Liu completed her PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in the laboratory of Omar Yaghi, PhD. There, Liu developed a molecular weaving strategy to introduce flexibility and resilience into solid-state crystalline materials for the first time. These materials are now being studied to capture water in arid, desert climates, as well as in the sequestration of carbon dioxide to address climate change. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Over the course of her studies, Liu has received notable awards and honors, including the UC Berkeley Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, the Philomathia Graduate Student Fellowship in the Environmental Sciences, and the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad.
For more information, contact press@scripps.edu