Xufen Liu

Xufen Liu serves as a Guest Researcher at the Section for Hologenomics within the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen, contributing to interdisciplinary research at the intersection of genomics and ecological conservation. Her position is hosted through the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (sund.ku.dk domain).

Her research program centers on hologenomics—the study of host-microbiome systems as integrated units—with specific focus on genomic erosion in endangered species. She investigates how time-lagged genetic deterioration interacts with environmental stressors to drive extinction processes, employing advanced genomic sequencing and ecological modeling. Her work bridges theoretical population genetics with urgent conservation applications, particularly in avian biodiversity hotspots facing habitat fragmentation.

Dr. Liu's recent publication in Proceedings of the Royal Society B exemplifies her research trajectory, analyzing genomic vulnerability in critically endangered birds. This work falls within broader disciplines of evolutionary genomics and conservation biology, revealing critical thresholds where genetic rescue interventions become essential. Her methodology integrates paleogenomic data with future climate projections to forecast extinction risks.

As part of the Section for Hologenomics, she collaborates within a specialized research ecosystem studying host-microbiome coevolution across diverse taxa. The team utilizes high-throughput sequencing facilities and computational pipelines to analyze hologenomic datasets, with implications spanning wildlife management, evolutionary medicine, and ecosystem resilience planning.