Dajiang Liu, PhD, MA - Penn State Cancer Institute
Researcher Profile
Dajiang Liu, PhD, MA
Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Public Health Sciences
Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
Distinguished Professor, Department of Molecular and Precision Medicine
One Health Microbiome Center
Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
Distinguished Professor, Department of Molecular and Precision Medicine
One Health Microbiome Center
Scientific Program:Cancer Control
Recent Publications
2025
Wang, L, Markus, H, Chen, D, Chen, S, Zhang, F, Gao, S, Khunsriraksakul, C, Chen, F, Olsen, N, Foulke, G, Jiang, B, Carrel, L & Liu, DJ 2025, 'An atlas of single-cell eQTLs dissects autoimmune disease genes and identifies novel drug classes for treatment', Cell Genomics, vol. 5, no. 4, 100820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100820
Lehrer, EJ, Khunsriraksakul, C, Garrett, S, Trifiletti, DM, Sheehan, JP, Guckenberger, M, Louie, AV, Siva, S, Ost, P, Goodman, KA, Dawson, LA, Tchelebi, LT, Yang, JT, Showalter, TN, Park, HS, Spratt, DE, Kishan, AU, Gupta, GP, Shah, C, Fanti, S, Calais, J, Wang, M, Schmitz, K, Liu, D, Abraham, JA, Dess, RT, Buvat, I, Solomon, B & Zaorsky, NG 2025, 'Future directions in the evaluation and management of newly diagnosed metastatic cancer', Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, vol. 208, 104631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.critrevonc.2025.104631
Fike, AJ, Bricker, KN, Gonzalez, MV, Maharjan, A, Bui, T, Nuon, K, Emrich, SM, Weber, JL, Luckenbill, SA, Choi, NM, Sauteraud, R, Liu, DJ, Olsen, NJ, Caricchio, R, Trebak, M, Chodisetti, SB & Rahman, ZSM 2025, 'IRF7 controls spontaneous autoimmune germinal center and plasma cell checkpoints', Journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. 222, no. 7. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20231882
Wang, L, Gao, S, Chen, S, Markus, H, Wang, G, Carrel, L, Zhan, X, Liu, DJ & Jiang, B 2025, 'Integrating axis quantitative trait loci looks beyond cell types and offers insights into brain-related traits', Nature communications, vol. 16, no. 1, 10606. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65643-w
Wang, C, Markus, H, Diwadkar, AR, Khunsriraksakul, C, Carrel, L, Li, B, Zhong, X, Wang, X, Zhan, X, Foulke, GT, Olsen, N, Liu, D & Jiang, B 2025, 'Integrating electronic health records and GWAS summary statistics to predict the progression of autoimmune diseases from preclinical stages', Nature communications, vol. 16, no. 1, 180. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55636-6
Khunsriraksakul, C, Ziegler, O, Liu, D, Kulaylat, AS & Coates, MD 2025, 'Letter: Are Antispasmodics Truly Ineffective in IBD? Considerations on Nuanced Interpretation and Stratified Analysis. Authors' Reply', Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 99-100. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.70186
Sicher, N, Aldrich, B, Zhang, S, Mazur, L, Juarez, S, Lehman, E, Liu, D & Gandhi, CK 2025, 'Surfactant protein levels and genetic variants as biomarkers for COVID-19 severity in children', American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, vol. 328, no. 3, pp. L350-L356. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00318.2024
Lauver, MD, Katz, ZE, Markus, H, Derosia, NM, Jin, G, Ayers, KN, Butic, AB, Bushey, K, Abendroth, CS, Liu, DJ & Lukacher, AE 2025, 'The CXCR6-CXCL16 axis mediates T cell control of polyomavirus infection in the kidney', PLoS pathogens, vol. 21, no. 3, e1012969. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012969
Khunsriraksakul, C, Ziegler, O, Liu, D, Kulaylat, AS & Coates, MD 2025, 'The Impact of Antispasmodic Use on Abdominal Pain and Opioid Use in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Population-Based Study', Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, vol. 61, no. 12, pp. 1944-1956. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.70147
Jiang, Z, Sullivan, PF, Li, T, Zhao, B, Wang, X, Luo, T, Huang, S, Guan, PY, Chen, J, Yang, Y, Stein, JL, Li, Y, Liu, D, Sun, L & Zhu, H 2025, 'The X chromosome's influences on the human brain', Science Advances, vol. 11, no. 4, eadq3874. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adq5360
Lai, D, Wang, H, Gu, T, Wu, S, Liu, DJ, Sham, PC & Zhang, YD 2025, 'TransferTWAS: A transfer learning framework for cross-tissue transcriptome-wide association study', American Journal of Human Genetics, vol. 112, no. 8, pp. 1936-1947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2025.06.006
2024
COGA Collaborators 2025, 'Correction to: Multivariate analysis of 1.5 million people identifies genetic associations with traits related to self-regulation and addiction (Nature Neuroscience, (2021), 24, 10, (1367-1376), 10.1038/s41593-021-00908-3)', Nature Neuroscience, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 213. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01853-7
McGuire, D, Markus, H, Yang, L, Xu, J, Montgomery, A, Berg, A, Li, Q, Carrel, L, Liu, DJ & Jiang, B 2024, 'Dissecting heritability, environmental risk, and air pollution causal effects using > 50 million individuals in MarketScan', Nature communications, vol. 15, no. 1, 5357. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49566-6
Xu, X, Khunsriraksakul, C, Eales, JM, Rubin, S, Scannali, D, Saluja, S, Talavera, D, Markus, H, Wang, L, Drzal, M, Maan, A, Lay, AC, Prestes, PR, Regan, J, Diwadkar, AR, Denniff, M, Rempega, G, Ryszawy, J, Król, R, Dormer, JP, Szulinska, M, Walczak, M, Antczak, A, Matías-García, PR, Waldenberger, M, Woolf, AS, Keavney, B, Zukowska-Szczechowska, E, Wystrychowski, W, Zywiec, J, Bogdanski, P, Danser, AHJ, Samani, NJ, Guzik, TJ, Morris, AP, Liu, DJ, Charchar, FJ & Tomaszewski, M 2024, 'Genetic imputation of kidney transcriptome, proteome and multi-omics illuminates new blood pressure and hypertension targets', Nature communications, vol. 15, no. 1, 2359. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46132-y
Chen, T, Pham, G, Fox, L, Adler, N, Wang, X, Zhang, J, Byun, J, Han, Y, Saunders, GRB, Liu, D, Bray, MJ, Ramsey, AT, McKay, J, Bierut, LJ, Amos, CI, Hung, RJ, Lin, X, Zhang, H & Chen, LS 2024, 'Genomic insights for personalised care in lung cancer and smoking cessation: motivating at-risk individuals toward evidence-based health practices', EBioMedicine, vol. 110, 105441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105441
Wang, L, Khunsriraksakul, C, Markus, H, Chen, D, Zhang, F, Chen, F, Zhan, X, Carrel, L, Liu, DJ & Jiang, B 2024, 'Integrating single cell expression quantitative trait loci summary statistics to understand complex trait risk genes', Nature communications, vol. 15, no. 1, 4260. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48143-1
Tan, Y, Wang, L, Zhang, H, Pan, M, Liu, DJ, Zhan, X & Li, B 2024, 'Interpretable GWAS by linking clinical phenotypes to quantifiable immune repertoire components', Communications Biology, vol. 7, no. 1, 1357. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-07010-x
2023
Emery, L, Kane, E, Anderson-Fears, K, Liu, D, Floros, J & Gandhi, CK 2023, 'Association of surfactant protein A2 with acute respiratory failure in children', Pediatrics International, vol. 65, no. 1, e15672. https://doi.org/10.1111/ped.15672
Hudock, NL, Mani, K, Khunsriraksakul, C, Walter, V, Nekhlyudov, L, Wang, M, Lehrer, EJ, Hudock, MR, Liu, DJ, Spratt, DE & Zaorsky, N 2023, 'Future trends in incidence and long-term survival of metastatic cancer in the United States', Communications Medicine, vol. 3, no. 1, 76. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-023-00304-x
Khunsriraksakul, C, Li, Q, Markus, H, Patrick, MT, Sauteraud, R, McGuire, D, Wang, X, Wang, C, Wang, L, Chen, S, Shenoy, G, Li, B, Zhong, X, Olsen, NJ, Carrel, L, Tsoi, LC, Jiang, B & Liu, DJ 2023, 'Multi-ancestry and multi-trait genome-wide association meta-analyses inform clinical risk prediction for systemic lupus erythematosus', Nature communications, vol. 14, no. 1, 668. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36306-5
Chen, F, Wang, X, Jang, SK, Quach, BC, Weissenkampen, JD, Khunsriraksakul, C, Yang, L, Sauteraud, R, Albert, CM, Allred, NDD, Arnett, DK, Ashley-Koch, AE, Barnes, KC, Barr, RG, Becker, DM, Bielak, LF, Bis, JC, Blangero, J, Boorgula, MP, Chasman, DI, Chavan, S, Chen, YDI, Chuang, LM, Correa, A, Curran, JE, David, SP, Fuentes, LDL, Deka, R, Duggirala, R, Faul, JD, Garrett, ME, Gharib, SA, Guo, X, Hall, ME, Hawley, NL, He, J, Hobbs, BD, Hokanson, JE, Hsiung, CA, Hwang, SJ, Hyde, TM, Irvin, MR, Jaffe, AE, Johnson, EO, Kaplan, R, Kardia, SLR, Kaufman, JD, Kelly, TN, Kleinman, JE, Kooperberg, C, Lee, IT, Levy, D, Lutz, SM, Manichaikul, AW, Martin, LW, Marx, O, McGarvey, ST, Minster, RL, Moll, M, Moussa, KA, Naseri, T, North, KE, Oelsner, EC, Peralta, JM, Peyser, PA, Psaty, BM, Rafaels, N, Raffield, LM, Reupena, MS, Rich, SS, Rotter, JI, Schwartz, DA, Shadyab, AH, Sheu, WHH, Sims, M, Smith, JA, Sun, X, Taylor, KD, Telen, MJ, Watson, H, Weeks, DE, Weir, DR, Yanek, LR, Young, KA, Young, KL, Zhao, W, Hancock, DB, Jiang, B, Vrieze, S & Liu, DJ 2023, 'Multi-ancestry transcriptome-wide association analyses yield insights into tobacco use biology and drug repurposing', Nature Genetics, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 291-300. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01282-x
Ang, KC, Canfield, VA, Foster, TC, Harbaugh, TD, Early, KA, Harter, RL, Reid, KP, Leong, SL, Kawasawa, YI, Liu, DJ, Hawley, JW & Cheng, KC 2023, 'Native American genetic ancestry and pigmentation allele contributions to skin color in a Caribbean population', eLife, vol. 12. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.77514
2022
Gao, GF, Liu, D, Zhan, X & Li, B 2022, 'Analysis of KIR gene variants in The Cancer Genome Atlas and UK Biobank using KIRCLE', BMC Biology, vol. 20, no. 1, 191. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-022-01392-2
Vu, TN, Khunsriraksakul, C, Vorobeychik, Y, Liu, A, Sauteraud, R, Shenoy, G, Liu, DJ & Cohen, SP 2022, 'Association of Spinal Cord Stimulator Implantation With Persistent Opioid Use in Patients With Postlaminectomy Syndrome', JAMA network open, vol. 5, no. 1, e2145876. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.45876
Khunsriraksakul, C, Markus, H, Olsen, NJ, Carrel, L, Jiang, B & Liu, DJ 2022, 'Construction and Application of Polygenic Risk Scores in Autoimmune Diseases', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 13, 889296. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.889296
23andMe Research Team & The Biobank Japan Project 2022, 'Genetic diversity fuels gene discovery for tobacco and alcohol use', Nature, vol. 612, no. 7941, pp. 720-724. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05477-4
Perrelli, M, Wu, R, Liu, DJ, Lucchini, RG, Del Bosque-Plata, L, Vergare, MJ, Akhter, MP, Ott, J & Gragnoli, C 2022, 'Heavy metals as risk factors for human diseases – a Bayesian network approach', European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, vol. 26, no. 24, pp. 9275-9310. https://doi.org/10.26355/eurrev_202212_30681
Depicolzuane, LC, Roberts, CM, Thomas, NJ, Anderson-Fears, K, Liu, D, Barbosa, JPP, Souza, FR, Pimentel, AS, Floros, J & Gandhi, CK 2022, 'Hydrophilic But Not Hydrophobic Surfactant Protein Genetic Variants Are Associated With Severe Acute Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Children', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 13, 922956. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.922956
Khunsriraksakul, C, McGuire, D, Sauteraud, R, Chen, F, Yang, L, Wang, L, Hughey, J, Eckert, S, Dylan Weissenkampen, J, Shenoy, G, Marx, O, Carrel, L, Jiang, B & Liu, DJ 2022, 'Integrating 3D genomic and epigenomic data to enhance target gene discovery and drug repurposing in transcriptome-wide association studies', Nature communications, vol. 13, no. 1, 3258. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30956-7
Yang, S, Wang, S, Wang, Y, Rong, R, Kim, J, Li, B, Koh, AY, Xiao, G, Li, Q, Liu, DJ & Zhan, X 2022, 'MB-SupCon: Microbiome-based Predictive Models via Supervised Contrastive Learning', Journal of Molecular Biology, vol. 434, no. 15, 167693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167693
Weissenrieder, JS, Weissenkampen, JD, Reed, JL, Green, MV, Zheng, C, Neighbors, JD, Liu, DJ & Hohl, RJ 2022, 'RNAseq reveals extensive metabolic disruptions in the sensitive SF-295 cell line treated with schweinfurthins', Scientific reports, vol. 12, no. 1, 359. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04117-7
AMP-T2D-GENES, Myocardial Infarction Genetics Consortium, NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium & NHLBI TOPMed Lipids Working Group 2022, 'Rare coding variants in 35 genes associate with circulating lipid levels—A multi-ancestry analysis of 170,000 exomes', American Journal of Human Genetics, vol. 109, no. 1, pp. 81-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.11.021
Jang, SK, Evans, L, Fialkowski, A, Arnett, DK, Ashley-Koch, AE, Barnes, KC, Becker, DM, Bis, JC, Blangero, J, Bleecker, ER, Boorgula, MP, Bowden, DW, Brody, JA, Cade, BE, Jenkins, BWC, Carson, AP, Chavan, S, Cupples, LA, Custer, B, Damrauer, SM, David, SP, de Andrade, M, Dinardo, CL, Fingerlin, TE, Fornage, M, Freedman, BI, Garrett, ME, Gharib, SA, Glahn, DC, Haessler, J, Heckbert, SR, Hokanson, JE, Hou, L, Hwang, SJ, Hyman, MC, Judy, R, Justice, AE, Kaplan, RC, Kardia, SLR, Kelly, S, Kim, W, Kooperberg, C, Levy, D, Lloyd-Jones, DM, Loos, RJF, Manichaikul, AW, Gladwin, MT, Martin, LW, Nouraie, M, Melander, O, Meyers, DA, Montgomery, CG, North, KE, Oelsner, EC, Palmer, ND, Payton, M, Peljto, AL, Peyser, PA, Preuss, M, Psaty, BM, Qiao, D, Rader, DJ, Rafaels, N, Redline, S, Reed, RM, Reiner, AP, Rich, SS, Rotter, JI, Schwartz, DA, Shadyab, AH, Silverman, EK, Smith, NL, Smith, JG, Smith, AV, Smith, JA, Tang, W, Taylor, KD, Telen, MJ, Vasan, RS, Gordeuk, VR, Wang, Z, Wiggins, KL, Yanek, LR, Yang, IV, Young, KA, Young, KL, Zhang, Y, Liu, DJ, Keller, MC & Vrieze, S 2022, 'Rare genetic variants explain missing heritability in smoking', Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 6, no. 11, pp. 1577-1586. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01408-5
Type 1 Diabetes in Acute Pancreatitis Consortium (T1DAPC) 2022, 'Type 1 Diabetes in Acute Pancreatitis Consortium: From Concept to Reality', Pancreas, vol. 51, no. 6, pp. 563-567. https://doi.org/10.1097/MPA.0000000000002073