Guanshu Liu is an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, and he holds a joint appointment as an associate professor with the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging. Liu’s current research focuses on the development and applications of a novel MRI technique called chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST). His team is developing a variety of nanoparticle-based CEST imaging probes with low toxicity, high sensitivity, and high specificity. Additionally, the team is interested in exploring the biomedical uses of endogenous CEST contrast. One of their ongoing projects examines the use of the endogenous CEST MRI signal of bacterial organisms to detect and monitor bacterial infection in rodent models.

Liu received his bachelors of science in applied chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1998, a master’s of science in photochemistry and photobiology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001, and a master’s of science in analytical chemistry at the University of Missouri-Rolla in 2003. After completing his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University in 2008, he joined the Johns Hopkins staff as a research associate.