Yaping Liu, PhD

Thanks to my diverse academic and industry experiences, I have a broad background in epigenomics, single-cell multi-omics, computational biology, gene regulation, population genetics and liquid biopsy. These skills and interests drive me to understand the interactions between genetic and epigenetic variations — and bridge the gaps between genotype and phenotype.

My PhD training included developing computational and experimental methods for the high throughput epigenomic assay, specifically in DNA methylation and DNA accessibility/nucleosome positioning. Following my postdoctoral training, where I focused on population epigenomics, I worked as a principal computational biologist at a liquid biopsy company.

Together with experimental biologists, I developed NOMe-seq, Methyl-HiC and single-cell Methyl-HiC to profile the multi-omics within the same assay and even in the same single cell. Our NOMe-seq technology was selected as one of the Top 10 Innovations in 2013 by Scientist Magazine. Our single-cell Methyl-HiC technology was highlighted by Nature Method as Method of the Year 2019 (single-cell multimodal omics).

Since joining Cincinnati Children’s in 2019, my lab has focused on developing and applying machine learning and high-throughput experimental methods to understand gene regulation and non-coding genetic variants.

I’ve received numerous honors and awards, including:

• Trustee Award, Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation (2019)
• Stellar Abstract Award, 11th Annual Program in Quantitative Genomics (PQG) Conference, School of Public Health, Harvard University (2017)
• Stellar Abstract Award, 7th Annual PQG conference (2013)
• Charles Heidelberger Memorial Fellowship, University of Southern California (2013)
• SABRETRAIN Fellowship, European Marie Curie Host Fellowships for Early Stage Research Training, FP6 program (2009)