about me

I am a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Fellow in the Langer & Traverso groups at MIT.

Kidney disease afflicts ~15% of Americans and costs Medicare a staggering >$150 billion annually. It is the 9th leading cause of death and the third fastest-growing cause of death globally.

As a kidney disease patient for 20+ years and a bioengineer for 10 years, I am dedicated to engineering new technologies for kidney disease. I aim to engineer materials that can interface with kidney tissue, to sense disease, deliver therapeutics, and augment tissue with new functions.

I apply my clinical experiences and expertise in materials, therapeutics, and animal models across length scales to realize this vision. My work has been published in leading journals including Nature Materials, Matter, and Biomaterials.

My hobbies include weightlifting, analyzing pop music, trying out new restaurants, and the occasional jog along the Charles River.

Education & Training

2019 - present postdoctoral fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2013 - 2019 Ph.D., Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle
2009 - 2013 B.S., Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

Selected Awards

2024 - 2029 NIDDK K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award
2023 BME UNITE Future Faculty Fellow
2020 - 2023 NIDDK Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship
2019 Excellence in Mentorship Award
2013 - 2018 NSF Graduate Research Fellow

research

My experiences as a patient inspired my research interests in biomaterials, drug and gene delivery, and translational engineering. I acquired broad expertise in therapeutics, materials, and animal models across length scales through the following research programs:

macroscale materials for oral drug delivery
materials design for renal tropism
bioresponsive materials for therapeutics and diagnostics
ligand discovery and deep sequencing

publications

Selected Publications

G. W. Liu, et al. Drinkable, liquid in situ-forming and tough hydrogels for gastrointestinal therapeutics. Nature Materials 23, 1292-1299 (2024).
J. S. Lee*, H. Kim*, G. Carroll, G. W. Liu, et al. A multifunctional decellularized gut suture platform. Matter 6, 2293-2311 (2023).
G. W. Liu, et al. Glomerular disease augments kidney accumulation of synthetic anionic polymers. Biomaterials 178, 317-214 (2018).
G. W. Liu, et al. Nanoparticles exhibit greater accumulation in kidney glomeruli during experimental glomerular kidney disease. Physiological Reports 8, e14545 (2020).

see all

teaching & mentoring

I navigated visible and invisible health complications throughout my career that shaped my teaching and mentoring philosophies. As an educator and mentor, I practice empathy, patience, and gratitude. I am committed to developing students who can recognize and impact the complexities of chronic disease burden.