Yan Liao

Dr. Yan Liao is a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Independent PI, and Group Leader at the Australian Institute for Microbiology & Infection, University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Her research focuses on archaeal cell biology and biotechnology, with expertise in archaeal molecular biology, gene editing, and imaging techniques such as super-resolution fluorescence microscopy and electron microscopy. Dr. Liao's work has led to breakthroughs in understanding archaeal cell division and adaptation mechanisms, contributing significantly to the field of microbiology.

Education: She earned her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of New South Wales under Prof. Rick Cavicchioli, where she pioneered gene transfer systems in psychrophilic haloarchaea. Postdoctoral research at UTS under A/Prof Iain Duggin further advanced her studies on archaeal cell structure and cytoskeleton dynamics.

Research Interests: Archaeal molecular mechanisms, biotechnological applications of archaea, and imaging technologies. Key contributions include the discovery of new cell division systems in Archaea and the development of innovative molecular tools for archaeal research.

Awards & Recognition: Her work ranks top 2% in Faculty Opinions (Cell Biology) and top 5% in Altmetric. Highlighted in Nature, Nature Reviews Microbiology, and over 20 news outlets. Recipient of the UTS Chancellor’s Research Fellowship (2022–2026).

Grants & Funding: Lead CI for multiple grants including UTS Mid-Career Capability Development Initiative (2023), UTS Faculty of Science Seed Funding (2020–2023), and Blue Sky Research Grant (2022).

Outreach & Mentorship: Active in public science outreach through events like Soapbox Science and STEM Sister mentoring programs. Collaborations include global institutions such as MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (UK) and Max Planck Institute (Germany).