The LIU LAB
Electron Tomography at Yale University
Huaxin Yu
Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-Present)
PhD, University of Hyogo, Japan
Zamba-Campero M, Soliman D, Yu H, Lasseter AG, Chang YY, Silberman JL, Liu J, Aravind L, Jewett MW, Storz G, Adams PP. Broadly conserved FlgV controls flagellar assembly and Borrelia burgdorferi dissemination in mice. Nat Commun. 2024 Nov 29;15(1):10417.
Yu H, Wang C, Yue J, Guo W, Molineux IJ, Liu J. Structural basis of bacteriophage Ur-lambda infection initiation. Sci Adv. 2025 Nov 14;11(46):eadw7914.
Jian YuE
Postdoctoral Fellow (2023-Present)
PhD, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)
Yue J, Heydari S, Park D, Chetrit D, Tachiyama S, Guo W, Botting JM, Wu S, Roy CR, Liu J. In situ structures of the Legionella Dot/Icm T4SS identify the DotA-IcmX complex as the gatekeeper for effector translocation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Sep 30;122(39):e2516300122.
Lab Gallery
jun liu, ph.d.
Professor
Department of Microbial Pathogenesis
Microbial Sciences Institute
Yale School of Medicine
Ph.D. Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (1995-1998)
Postdoctorial Fellow, Florida State University, Florida, USA (1998-2006)
Staff Scientist, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA (2006-2007)
Assistant Professor & Associate Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, UTHealth (2007-2017)
Shoichi Tachiyama
Postdoctoral Fellow (2020-Present)
PhD, Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of Kansas
Tachiyama S, Chan KL, Liu XL, Hathroubi S, Peterson B, Khan MF, Ottemann KM, Liu J, Roujeinikova A: The flagellar motor protein FliL forms a scaffold of circumferentially positioned rings required for stator activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022, 119 (4) e2118401119.
Liu X, Tachiyama S, Zhou X, Mathias RA, Bonny SQ, Khan MF, Xin V, Roujeinikova A, Liu J, and Ottemann KM. Bacterial flagella hijack type IV pili proteins to control motility. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023
Jiaqi Guo
Postdoctoral Fellow (2025-Present)
PhD, Brandeis University, USA
Lab Support: Smokey - A labradoodle
Jennifer Aronson
Lab Coordinator (2020-Present)
Wangbiao (Seven) Guo
Postdoctoral Fellow (2021-Present)
PhD, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Carroll BL, Nishikino T, Guo W, Zhu S, Kojima S, Homma M, Liu J: The flagellar motor of Vibrio alginolyticus undergoes major structural remodeling during rotational switching. Elife. 2020 Sep 7;9:e61446.
Guo W, Zhang S, Park JH, Stanton V, Asp M, Herrera H, Tai JB, Yue J, Wang J, Guo J, Kumar R, Botting JM, Wu S, Yan J, Klose KE, Yildiz FH, Liu J. Structures of the sheathed flagellum reveal mechanisms of assembly and rotation in Vibrio cholerae. Nat Microbiol. 2025 Dec;10(12):3305-3314.
Jiaqi (Clem) Wang
Postdoctoral Fellow (2025-Present)
PhD, Hokkaido University, Japan
SAMIRA HEYDAYI
Postdoctoral Fellow (2023-Present)
Heydari S, Liu J. High-throughput cryo-electron tomography enables multiscale visualization of the inner life of microbes. Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2025 May16;93:103065. PMID:40381356.
Yue J, Heydari S, Park D, Chetrit D, Tachiyama S, Guo W, Botting JM, Wu S, Roy CR, Liu J. In situ structures of the Legionella Dot/Icm T4SS identify the DotA-IcmX complex as the gatekeeper for effector translocation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Sep 30;122(39):e2516300122.
Jack BoTTing
Research Assistant II (2023-Present)
MS, UGA, USA
Botting JM, Tachiyama S, Giboson KH, Liu J, Starai VJ, Hoover TR: FlgV forms a flagellar motor ring that is required for optimal motility of Helicobacter pylori. PLoS One 2023 18(11):e0287514.
Botting JM, Rahman MK, Xu H, Yue J, Guo W, Del Mundo JT, Hammel M, Motaleb MA, Liu J: FlbB forms a distinctive ring essential for periplasmic flagellar assembly and motility in Borrelia burgdorferi. PLoS Pathog. 2025 Jan 8;21(1):e1012812.
Updated on December 25, 2025
Erin McCrum, UT Houston Medical School, Summer Intern, 2008
Sherille Bradley, Texas State University, Summer Intern, 2009
Xiaofeng Fu, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2010
Gianmarco Raddi, Rice University, Summer Intern, 2010
Charles Chen, Duke University, Summer Intern, 2010
Yesha Zheng, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2011
Dustin Morado, Georgia Tech, Summer Intern, 2010, 2011
Sam Ruder, Rice University, Summer Intern, 2012
Martin Chien, China Medical University, Taiwan, Summer Intern, 2012
Hongyi Shi, Los Altos High School, Los Altos, CA, Summer Intern, 2012
Brian A. Tong, Bellaire High School, Summer Intern, 2010, 2011, 2012
Alan Pan, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, Summer Intern, 2012, 2013
Xiaomin Li, Institute of Biophysics, Visiting Student, 2013
Jonas Actor, University of Chicago, Summer Intern, 2014
Qiang Chen, Beijing University, Visiting Student, 2014
Jiagang Tu, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2012-2015
Xiaowei Zhao, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2010-2015
Wei-Ting Lin, Fu Jen Catholic University, Summer Intern, 2015
Madeline Farley, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2015-2016
Wendy Wang, Research Assistant, 2015-2016
Dustin Morado, Research Assistant, 2014-2017
Xiangan Liu, Research Assistant Professor, 2015-2017
David Burton, University of Montana, Summer Intern, 2017
Jeffery Yang, Emory University, Summer Intern, 2017
Bo Hu, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2010-2016; Assistant Professor, 2016-2017
Tatsuro Nishikino, Nagoya University, Visiting Student, 2018
Benjamin Crair, Guilford High School, Summer Intern, 2018, 2019
Zhuan Qin, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2015-2018
Meijing Li, Tshinghua University, Visiting Student, 2018
Wenwei Li, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2017-2019
Shiwei Zhu, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2016-2019
Katherine Haney Gibson, University of Georgia, Visiting Student, 2019
Cedric Hu, University of Rochester, Summer Intern, 2019; Research Assistant, 2021-2022
Liuqi Zhu, Nantong University, Visiting Student, 2019
Kevin Zhao, UCLA, Summer Intern, 2019
Jun He, ShanghaiTech University, Visiting Student, 2018-2019
Xia Li, Nantong University, Visiting Scholar, 2017-2019
Xinrui Huang, Beijing University, Visiting Scholar, 2019-2020
Ze Li, Fudan University, Visiting Scholar, 2018-2020
Qin Gong, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019-2020
Brittany Carrell, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019-2021
David Chetrit, Associate Research Scientist, 2020
Yunjie Chang, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2017-2021
Meng Shao, Research Assistant, 2019-2021
Donghyun (Raphael) Park, Graduate Student, 2017-2022
Shuaiqi (Phil) Guo, Associate Research Scientist, 2020-2023
Liang Chen, Florida State University, Visiting Student, 2022-2023
Jing Cheng, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024
Ana Afonso, University of Porto, Visiting Student, 2023-2024
Randy Liu, Amity High School, Research Intern, 2024
Chunyan Wang, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2016-2024
Aiden Tischer, University of Vermont, Summer Intern, 2024
Sarah W. Zhang, Beverly Hills High School, Summer Intern, 2024
Fred Xiao, Amity Regional High School, Summer Intern, 2024
Justin Zhao, Jericho Senior High School, Summer Intern, 2024, 2025
Hang (Hannie) Zhao, Visiting Scholar, 2024
Avijay Sen, Franklin High School, Summer Intern, 2025
Lena Zenisek, University of Connecticut, Summer Intern, 2025
Wazhma Naseeri, University of Connecticut, Summer Intern, 2025
Mingbo Wang, Rutgers University, Summer Intern, 2025
Rajeev Kumar, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024-2025