Dr. Fangyu Liu is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of age-related conditions and declines, as well as how various interventions may impact these mechanisms. She applies causal inference methods to provide more rigorous causal evidence in observational studies.
Education
2024 Ph.D. Epidemiology Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
2024 MHS Biostatistics Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
2020 MHS Epidemiology Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
2012 B.S. Maritime Studies Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Selected publications (*co-first author)
Geroscience
Liu F, Schrack JA, Walston J, Mathias RA, Windham BG, Grams ME, Coresh J, Walker KA. Mid-life plasma proteins associated with late-life prefrailty and frailty: a proteomic analysis. GeroScience. 2024 Oct;46(5):5247-5265. doi: 10.1007/s11357-024-01219-8. PMID: 38856871; PMCID: PMC11336072.
Liu F, Austin TR, Schrack JA, Chen J, Walston J, Mathias RA, Grams M, Odden MC, Newman A, Psaty BM, Ramonfaur D, Shah AM, Windham BG, Coresh J, Walker KA. Late-life plasma proteins associated with prevalent and incident frailty: A proteomic analysis. Aging Cell. 2023 Nov;22(11):e13975. doi: 10.1111/acel.13975. PMID: 37697678; PMCID: PMC10652348.
Liu F, Wanigatunga AA, Zampino M, Knuth ND, Simonsick EM, Schrack JA, Ferrucci L. Association of mitochondrial function, substrate utilization, and anaerobic metabolism with age-related perceived fatigability. Journal of Gerontology Series A Biological Science & Medical Science. 2021 Feb 25;76(3):426-433. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glaa201. PMID: 32803242; PMCID: PMC8355455. Edior’s Choice.
Sathyan S*, Liu F*, Tanaka T, Ferrucci L, Ayers E, Windham BG, Gao T, Weiss EF, Candia J, Coresh J, Barzilai N, Milman S, Walker KA, Verghese J. A Frailty-Based Plasma Proteomic Signature Capturing Overall Health and Well-Being in Older Adults. Aging Cell. 2025 Aug 4:e70144. doi: 10.1111/acel.70144. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40760763.
Kivimäki M, Pentti J, Frank P, Liu F, Blake A, Nyberg ST, Vahtera J, Singh-Manoux A, Wyss-Coray T, Walker KA, Partridge L, Lindbohm JV. Social disadvantage accelerates aging. Nat Med. 2025 Mar 14. doi: 10.1038/s41591-025-03563-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40087516.
Causal inference
Liu F, Schrack JA, Walker KA, Walston J, Mathias RA, Griswold ME, Palta P, Windham BG, Jackson JW. The effect of long-term adherence to physical activity recommendations in midlife on plasma proteins associated with frailty in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. European Journal of Epidemiology. In press
Liu F, Duchesneau ED, Lund JL, Jackson JW. A review of causal inference methods for estimating the effects of exposure change when incident exposure is unobservable. Current Epidemiologic Reports. 2024. doi: 10.1007/s40471-024-00343-5.
Physical activity and other interventions
Liu F, Wanigatunga AA, Schrack JA. Assessment of physical activity in adults using wrist accelerometers. Epidemiologic Reviews. 2022 Jan 14;43(1):65-93. doi: 10.1093/epirev/mxab004. PMID: 34215874; PMCID: PMC8900289.
Liu F, Schrack J, Wanigatunga SK, Rabinowitz JA, He L, Wanigatunga AA, Zipunnikov V, Simonsick EM, Ferrucci L, Spira AP. Comparison of sleep parameters from wrist-worn ActiGraph and Actiwatch devices. Sleep. 2024 Feb 8;47(2):zsad155. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsad155. PMID: 37257489; PMCID: PMC10851854.
Spira AP, Liu F, Zipunnikov V, Bilgel M, Rabinowitz JA, An Y, Di J, Bai J, Wanigatunga SK, Wu MN, Lucey BP, Schrack JA, Wanigatunga AA, Rosenberg PB, Simonsick EM, Walker KA, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM. Evaluating a novel 24-hour rest/activity rhythm marker of preclinical b-amyloid deposition. Sleep. 2024 May 10;47(5):zsae037. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsae037. PMID: 38381532; PMCID: PMC11082462.
Dougherty R, Liu F, An Y, Wanigatunga AA, Tian Q, Davatzikos C, Simonsick EM, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM, Schrack JA. Energetic cost of walking and Brain Atrophy in Mid-to-Late Life. Journal of Gerontology Series A Biological Science & Medical Science. 2021 Oct 10:glab309. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glab309. PMID: 34628503; PMCID: PMC9536456.
Full publication can be found here
