Liu Haiyan

Liu Haiyan is an Associate Professor at NUS Medicine's Department of Microbiology and Immunology, leading research on tumor immunology and immunotherapy approaches for hepatocellular carcinoma. Her investigations focus on:

• Immunosuppressive mechanisms in the tumor microenvironment
• Novel cytokine-based immunotherapies
• γδ T cell engineering for adoptive therapies
• Overcoming resistance to checkpoint inhibitors

Key findings include identifying IL-1α as a critical immunosuppressive factor regulated by calpain 1, and developing IL-12/18/21 preactivation strategies to enhance γδ T cell efficacy against PD-L1 resistant tumors. She received the NUSMed Fortitude Award in 2021 for her research contributions.