Rate My Professor Guo-Jun Liu

Professor Guo-Jun Liu is an Adjunct Professor in the Brain and Mind Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, at the University of Sydney. He is the Biology Group Leader and Principal Scientist (Professor) in the National Nuclear Security and Health division at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), a position he has held since 2013. Previously, from 2008 to 2013, he served as Senior Research Fellow in the Discipline of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney. His education includes qualifications from Gifu University School of Medicine in Japan and Jilin University (formerly Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences) in China. Professor Liu supervises Honours, Masters, and PhD students.

Professor Liu's academic interests center on the impact and mechanisms of ionising radiation exposure on healthy brain tissue and brain diseases, with a focus on low-dose radiation effects. His research specializations include the biology of microglia, the 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO), neuroinflammation, neuropathology, cognitive deficits, glial activation, chemotaxis, mitochondrial bioenergetics, and cell metabolism. Key publications are 'TSPO contributes to neuropathology and cognitive deficits in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease' (2025), 'Early Locus Coeruleus noradrenergic axon loss drives olfactory dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease' (2025, Nature Communications), 'The 18 kDa Translocator Protein, Microglia and Neuroinflammation' (2014, Brain Pathology), 'Positron emission tomography and functional characterization of a complete PBR/TSPO knockout' (2014, Nature Communications), 'Functional gains in energy and cell metabolism after TSPO gene insertion' (2017, Cell Cycle), 'Glutamate induces directed chemotaxis of microglia' (2009, European Journal of Neuroscience), and 'Guwiyang Wurra – 'Fire Mouse': a global gene knockout model for TSPO/PBR drug development' (2015). These works advance understanding of neuroimmune mechanisms and therapeutic targets in neurodegenerative conditions.