Yongjian Liu, PhD

Yongjian Liu, PhD, is a professor of radiology and principal investigator within the Precision Radiotheranostics Research Center at WashU Medicine’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. As leader of the Liu Lab, his goal is to embed biology in the development of molecular probes for human disease imaging and therapy through translational research. Liu’s research interests include nanomedicine, molecular imaging, infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, lung injury, radiopharmaceutical chemistry, positron-based radiopharmaceuticals, cancer radiotherapy and radioenvironmental chemistry.

Liu is a member of several professional organizations including the American Chemistry Society, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and the World Molecular Imaging Society. In 2020, he was honored with the Distinguished Investigator Award by the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research in celebration of his high level of achievement in the field of imaging research.

After a four-year postdoctoral fellowship at MIR, Liu joined the faculty in 2011. He earned a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Missouri, a master’s degree in environmental science from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Henan Normal University in Xinxiang, China.