After growing up in China, Xingchen Liu, PhD'23, studied at Brandeis University in Waltham. 

“I was interested in nature and science growing up, but I didn’t know I wanted to be a scientist until I worked in a research lab,” said Dr. Liu. “My experience working as an undergraduate research assistant on a metalloprotein of the Hepatitis B virus in the Pandelia Lab in the Department of Biochemistry at Brandeis triggered me to pursue a career as a research scientist.”

Liu had the freedom to explore different areas of research at UMass Chan Medical School because of how the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences has structured its PhD in biomedical sciences.

“I chose UMass Chan because the PhD program is an umbrella program that allows students to rotate in different research area labs before they decide which lab to join,” Liu said.

Working with mentor Brian Kelch, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry & molecular biotechnology, Liu has learned to investigate the mechanism of protein complexes important for DNA replication and repair (sliding clamps and clamp loaders). Liu’s research in the Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology relies on a broad range of techniques, including molecular dynamics simulations, cryoEM, biochemical assays and yeast genetics.

The ring-shaped eukaryotic sliding clamp (PCNA) coordinates multiple cellular pathways, including DNA replication, repair, cell cycle control and apoptosis when it is loaded onto DNA by its main regulator, clamp loader. PCNA’s role is the central hub for pathways that maintain genome stability makes its proper function important to human health. Liu’s latest published work was the first to determine cryoEM structures of the eukaryotic clamp: clamp loader complex in different conformations.

Liu's goal is to understand how basic biology works with a multidisciplinary approach to develop tools or therapeutics that will treat human diseases. In the future, Liu aspires to run her own academic lab as a principal investigator.