Shan-Lu Liu
Professor
Department of Veterinary Biosciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
A leading virologist, Shan-Lu Liu has transformed understanding of how viruses interact with their hosts and how the immune system responds. His contributions have shaped research on virus-host interactions, innate antiviral immunity and viral pathogenesis. Those findings directly informed U.S. Food and Drug Administration decisions on COVID-19 vaccine formulations.
Since joining Ohio State in 2016, Liu has built a world-leading virology research program with relevance for both human and animal health. His work is widely recognized for revealing how host proteins can restrict viral infection and how viruses adapt to overcome those defenses. He helped establish the antiviral roles of interferon-induced transmembrane (IFITM) proteins, as well as discoveries involving TIM family and SERINC proteins, and later identified additional host factors that regulate key steps in the viral life cycle, including entry and release. This work has advanced research on viruses of major public health importance, including HIV, Ebola, Zika and SARS-CoV-2.
A champion at fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, Liu has built partnerships across departments and colleges through leadership roles at Ohio State. As associate director of the Center for Retrovirus Research, he has further strengthened the center’s position as a national hub for innovative HIV research. He also serves as co-director of the Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program within the Infectious Diseases Institute, helping secure a major National Institutes of Health grant in 2020. Beyond campus, he has worked with the broader community through hands-on outreach with high school and pre-college students, with projects focused on Ebola, Zika, vaccines and disease prevention.
Liu was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2020 and the American Academy of Microbiology in 2018. He serves as president of the American Society for Virology and provides leadership as an editor of the Journal of Virology. At Ohio State, he received the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2025.
