Dr Renjing Liu

I am a stem cell biologist with specialised training in vascular biology and epigenetics. I obtained my Bachelors (Hons) and PhD from the University of Sydney, and was awarded the Sir Keith Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral training at Yale University. I trained at the Yale Stem Cell Center with one of the pioneers in induced pluripotent stem cells and the epigenetics field. After receiving the prestigious Yale Browne-Cox Fellowship, I completed a second postdoctoral traineeship at the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center where I made the seminal discovery of a master regulator that controls vascular smooth muscle cells phenotype (the main cell type found in blood vessel walls).

I returned to Australia in late 2013 after being awarded the Inaugural David Richmond Fellowship to head the Agnes Ginges Laboratory for Diseases of the Aorta at the Centenary Institute. I joined the VCCRI Faculty in July 2020 as the head of the Vascular Epigenetic Laboratory and part of the Institute's Faculty.

My lab has received funding NH&MRC, Ramaciotti Establishment Grant, and NSW Health amongst others since 2013, and I have been supported by National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship and the University of Sydney SOAR Award. My lab focuses on finding ways to convert pathological vascular smooth muscle cells into the physiological cell type as a way to treat cardiovascular diseases.

Visit the Vascular Epigenetics Lab for more information on the lab’s main research areas. Opportunities for Honours, Masters and PhD studies are available for interested students.