Chenshu Liu, assistant professor of biological sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a highly competitive Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The five-year grant, totaling more than $430,000, will support Liu's research into understanding cellular quality control mechanisms, where defective egg cells are eliminated during reproduction. Liu's recent breakthrough revealed that a protein called Piezo — a channel that responds to physical force — sits in the nuclear envelope, the membrane surrounding a cell's genetic material, and is essential for meiotic quality control. This suggests cells may use mechanical forces as a surveillance mechanism. Liu is currently investigating how Piezo enables quality control, how the nuclear envelope balances producing enough eggs while maintaining quality, and how this quality control system has evolved across different species.
The MIRA program is one of the NIH's most prestigious awards, providing long-term, stable funding to outstanding investigators. By supporting the overall research program rather than individual projects, MIRA gives scientists enhanced flexibility to pursue ambitious work with broad biomedical impact, follow novel directions and respond quickly to emerging opportunities in their fields.
“I’m incredibly honored to receive this support from the NIH through the MIRA program,” Liu said. “This award allows my lab to pursue high-risk, high-reward ideas and develop new tools to understand the mechanisms and roles of nuclear envelope dynamics in meiotic quality control. The flexibility of MIRA funding gives us the freedom to follow the science wherever it leads — including unexpected directions — and I’m deeply grateful to the NIH for investing in early-stage investigators and fundamental science. This grant also enables us to train the next generation of scientists through hands-on, curiosity-driven research.”
Spotlight Recipient
Chenshu Liu
Assistant Professor