Margaret A. Liu

Margaret A. Liu (born June 11, 1956)^[1] is a physician and researcher studying gene expression, immune responses, and vaccines. From 2015-2017, Liu served as president of the International Society of Vaccines.^[2] She is currently a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a foreign adjunct professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.^[2] Since June 7, 2017, she has been a director of Ipsen S.A. in France.^[3][4]

She is a founder of the field of DNA-based vaccines,^{[5][6][7][8][9]} and studies both plasmid DNA and mRNA vaccine technologies.^[10] She was the first researcher to provide evidence that gene-based immunization could protect against infectious diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, HPV, and HIV. In addition to her work with animal models, she was involved with the first trial of a gene-based influenza vaccine in humans.^[6] In 2002, Discover magazine recognized Liu as one of the 50 most important women in science.^[11]

Early life and education

Margaret's parents immigrated to the US from China for graduate school, and her mother moved her and her siblings to Durango, Colorado, after her father's death when Margaret was 4. They were one of the three Chinese families in the town. Growing up, Margaret's family struggled financially due to her father's death and racial prejudice making it hard for her mother to get jobs, despite her extensive education and qualifications. However, Margaret's childhood was a happy one, full of love from her mother and compassion for others. The support of her mother and the fairly diverse demographics of Durango inspired her to take risks in her career and life. She attended Durango High School, and also took advanced classes at Fort Lewis College starting at the age of 13.^[12] Even early in her education, she showed promise: her teachers recall that they knew that she was "going places".^[13] She graduated as Co-Valedictorian of the Class of 1973. She was a U.S. Presidential Scholar and received a Boettcher Scholarship, which fully funded her college degree.^[14] She turned down acceptances to Yale University and Princeton University, in part because of the scholarship providing a full ride to a college in Colorado.^[12]

She earned a B.A. in Chemistry, summa cum laude, at Colorado College. At Colorado College she discovered Biochemistry and Immunology, and also pursued her musical interests and played the flute for a woodwind quartet called the "Keytones" or the "Ketones". She completed her requirements and graduated a year early. She received a scholarship from the Rotary Foundation to study piano at a conservatory in Paris.^[12] She earned a Diplome d’Enseignement in piano from the École Normale de Musique de Paris.^[15]

She later obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed her internship and residency training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. She also completed a fellowship in endocrinology at Harvard. She became board certified in internal medicine and endocrinology and metabolism.^[2] While at Massachusetts General Hospital, she met her future husband, Robert Johnson, whom she married in 1983. She decided to keep her last name for professional reasons and because she thought that her race would surprise people if her name was Margaret Johnson.^[12]

Career

Her first position was as an instructor at Harvard, with funding from a 5-year Physician Scientist NIH grant. During this time she also worked at a visiting scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Herman Eisen.

In addition to her work at Harvard Medical School, Liu has been a visiting scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and a visiting professor at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.^[2]

Liu has been the senior director of immunology at Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, Pennsylvania.^[16] At Merck, she worked with Maurice Hilleman who was one of her most influential mentors.^[12]

She has been a Vice President of vaccine research and gene therapy at Chiron Corporation,^[15][17][18] a Vice-Chairman at Transgène, an independent director of Ipsen,^[19] the president of the International Society for Vaccines from 2015-2017,^[15] and the Executive Vice-Chair of the International Vaccine Institute. She was a senior advisor of vaccinology at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,^[2][20] where she was responsible for “monitoring and enhancing…and in identifying new opportunities for investment” for their billion-dollar vaccine programs and investments.^[21] During her time at the Gates Foundation, she worked part time at Transgène, realizing that she enjoyed splitting her time between organizations and jobs.^[12] She served as a member of the U.S. National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Council^[22] and was a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and a Fellow of the Molecular Medicine Society.^[23]

Research

Liu develops novel approaches to vaccines and immune treatments for cancer. She pioneered the development of DNA vaccines, which may offer "the hope of better, more stable vaccines that can be rapidly produced."^[11][5] In response to the injection of DNA, the body may produce proteins that provoke an immune response, protecting against the virus.^[16][24] Some DNA vaccines are in clinical trials for humans. Others are already licensed for veterinary treatments.^[25]

Awards and honors

• 2017, honorary Doctorate of Science, Karolinska Institute, Sweden^[6]
• 2002, Discover Magazine's 50 most important women in science^[11]

See also

• RNA vaccine
• DNA vaccine

References

1. "Margaret LIU - Dirigeant de la société Ipsen". BFMBusiness.com.
2. "Margaret A. Liu". International Society for Vaccines (ISV). Retrieved 1 May 2019.
3. "Executive Profile* Margaret A. Liu Director, Ipsen S.A." Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
4. "Ipsen nominates Dr Margaret Liu and Carol Stuckley for election to its Board as Independent Directors". Talent4Boards. April 25, 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
5. Fynan, Ellen F.; Lu, Shan; Robinson, Harriet L. (September 2018). "One Group's Historical Reflections on DNA Vaccine Development". Human Gene Therapy. 29 (9): 966–970. doi:10.1089/hum.2018.066. PMC 6152846. PMID 30129778. S2CID 52049152.
6. "Two new honorary doctors at Karolinska Institutet 2017". Karolinska Institutet News. 2017-03-29. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
7. Liu, M. A. (April 2003). "DNA vaccines: a review". Journal of Internal Medicine. 253 (4): 402–410. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2796.2003.01140.x. PMID 12653868. S2CID 4637418.
8. Griscom, Amanda (September 1, 2002). "Take These Genes and Call Me in the Morning". Wired. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
9. Liu, Margaret A; Rees, Jenaid (4 December 2014). "An interview with Margaret A Liu: the future of gene-based vaccines and immunotherapies, and other musings". Expert Review of Vaccines. 14 (2): 157–159. doi:10.1586/14760584.2015.988145. PMID 25474286.
10. Liu, M. A. (24 April 2019). "A Comparison of Plasmid DNA and mRNA as Vaccine Technologies". Vaccines. 7 (2): 37. doi:10.3390/vaccines7020037. PMC 6631684. PMID 31022829. S2CID 133604074.
11. Svitil, Kathy (13 November 2002). "The 50 Most Important Women in Science". Discover. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
12. Liu, Margaret Ann (2019-05-04). "From the wild west to the frontiers of immunology: the journey of a Chinese-American scientist". Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. 15 (5): 1016–1020. doi:10.1080/21645515.2019.1597583. ISSN 2164-5515. PMC 6628870. PMID 30942654. S2CID 92999808.
13. "Durango native Margaret Liu is 'The Mother of DNA Vaccines'". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
14. Butler, Ann (March 14, 2015). "Durango native Margaret Liu is 'The Mother of DNA Vaccines'". The Washington Times. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
15. "ISV - International Society for Vaccines (Congress, Member, Membership)". www.isv-online.org. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
16. Marantz Henig, Robin (March 30, 1993). "New Vaccine Method Using DNA Protects Mice Against a Flu Virus". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
17. Watanabe, Myrna (September 28, 1998). "In Search of an HIV Vaccine: Meet the Researchers 'Standing On Each Others' Shoulders'". The Scientist. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
18. "Chiron Announces Dr. Liu to Head U.S. Vaccines Research". Jon Cohen AIDS Research Collection, University of Michigan. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
19. "Ipsen nominates Dr Margaret Liu and Carol Stuckley for election to its Board as Independent Directors". Talent4Boards. 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
20. Fuller, Jacquelline. "Dr. Margaret Liu to join the Global Health program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
21. "Dr. Margaret Liu to join the Global Health program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
22. "Five Join NIAID Advisory Council". The NIH Record. LIV (4). February 19, 2002. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
23. Chiron (Firm) (2008). Chiron Announces Dr. Liu to Head U.S. Vaccines Research.
24. Lambert, Paul-Henri; Liu, Margaret; Siegrist, Claire-Anne (5 April 2005). "Can successful vaccines teach us how to induce efficient protective immune responses?". Nature Medicine. 11 (S4): S54–S62. doi:10.1038/nm1216. PMID 15812491. S2CID 11685892.
25. Kutzler, Michele A.; Weiner, David B. (October 2008). "DNA vaccines: ready for prime time?". Nature Reviews Genetics. 9 (10): 776–788. doi:10.1038/nrg2432. PMC 4317294. PMID 18781156. S2CID 22546925.