Professor Liu is a distinguished structural biologist and Chair Professor at ShanghaiTech University, where he serves as the Executive Director of the iHuman Institute. He is also a Member of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences (IEAS).

Professor Liu received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1994. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Georgia, later serving as Assistant and Associate Research Scientist at the University of Georgia before returning to China as a Professor at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005. In 2013, he joined ShanghaiTech University to establish and lead the iHuman Institute.

His research focuses on the structural and functional characterization of human cell signaling, particularly G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), as well as the development of innovative methods and technologies in structural biology. Professor Liu has made seminal contributions to the field, with numerous high-impact publications in journals such as Nature, Cell, and Science. Notable achievements include the determination of the crystal structures of human cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 (Cell, 2016, 2019, 2025; Nature, 2025), the structural basis of bitter taste receptor TAS2R46 activation (Science, 2022) and TAS2R14 (Nature 2024), the structural characterization of the sweet taste receptor (Nature, 2025), and the mechanistic study of odorant receptor OR6A2 (Cell, 2026). His work has provided profound insights into GPCR signaling, ligand recognition, and allosteric modulation.

Throughout his career, Professor Liu has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Ho-Leung-Ho-Lee Foundation Science and Technology Achievement Award (2022), the Shanghai Natural Science Award (First Place, 2020), the Leading Scientist Award of Shanghai (2019), and multiple Best Mentor Awards from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He serves as Vice President of the Biophysical Society of China, Co-Editor of IUCr Journal, and Editor of the Journal of Molecular Biology.