In addition to my methodological program, I actively collaborate with clinical and translational scientists across psychiatry, infectious disease, transplant medicine, and aging research. My collaborative work is organized into three application domains.
I serve as a statistical collaborator and co-investigator on multiple active NIH-funded studies in the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Neuroimaging and the Sheffield Lab programs, contributing to studies of psychosis spectrum disorders, belief updating, delusions, childhood trauma, and neural circuit organization.
Selected Publications:
Sheffield JM, Sloan AF, Corlett PR, Rogers BP, Vandekar S, Liu J, et al. Prior Expectations of Volatility Following Psychotherapy for Delusions: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. 2025. PMID: 40553472.
Torregrossa LJ, Liu J, Armstrong K, Heckers S, Sheffield JM. Network Structure of Childhood Trauma, Bodily Disturbances, and Schizotypy in Schizophrenia and Nonclinical Controls. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open. 2024; 5(1):sgae006. PMID: 38558890.
Torregrossa LJ, Liu J, Armstrong K, Heckers S, Sheffield JM. Interplay between childhood trauma, bodily self-disturbances, and clinical phenomena in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A network analysis. Schizophrenia Research. 2024; 266:107–115. PMID: 38394867.
Feola B, Huang AS, Liu J, Fox V, Armstrong K, Rogers B, Heckers S, Blackford JU, Woodward ND. Distress and Negative Subtypes of Schizophrenia: Identification, Characterization, and Neurostructural Profiles. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open. 2025. PMID: 41230248.
Kittleson AR, Woodward ND, McHugo M, Liu J, Vandekar SN, Armstrong K, Rogers B, Heckers S, Sheffield JM. A two-year longitudinal investigation of insula subregional cortical thickness and surface area in early psychosis. Schizophrenia Research. 2025; 284:204–213. PMID: 40845555.
Moussa-Tooks AB, Liu J, Armstrong K, Rogers B, Woodward ND, Heckers S. Cerebellar Effects on Abnormal Psychomotor Function Are Mediated by Processing Speed in Psychosis Spectrum. Cerebellum. 2023. PMID: 37540311.
Liu J, Womer F, Sheffield J, Armstrong K, McGonigle T, et al. Distress as a bridge to suicidality in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A network-based intervention simulation study. (Preprint, 2026)
During my doctoral training at UC San Diego, I contributed to a large program of research led by Dr. Dilip Jeste examining the epidemiology and neurobiology of aging, loneliness, and wisdom across the lifespan.
Selected Publications:
Lee EE, Bangen KJ, Avanzino JA, Hou B, Ramsey M, Eglit G, Liu J, Tu XM, Paulus M, Jeste DV. Outcomes of randomized clinical trials of interventions to enhance social, emotional, and spiritual components of wisdom: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry. 2020; 77(9):925–935. PMID: 32401284.
Lee EE, Depp C, Palmer BW, Glorioso D, Daly R, Liu J, Tu XM, Kim HC, Tarr P, Yamada Y, Jeste DV. High prevalence and adverse health effects of loneliness in community-dwelling adults across the lifespan: role of wisdom as a protective factor. International Psychogeriatrics. 2019; 31(10):1447–1462. PMID: 30560747.
Jeste DV, Thomas ML, Liu J, Daly RE, Tu XM, Treichler EBH, Palmer BW, Lee EE. Is spirituality a component of wisdom? Study of 1,786 adults using the expanded San Diego Wisdom Scale. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 2021; 132:174–181. PMID: 33126011.
I have contributed statistical expertise to translational studies connecting gut microbiome composition to alcoholic liver disease, fungal dysbiosis, and transplant outcomes.
Selected Publications:
Duan Y, Llorente C, Lang S, Brandl K, Chu H, Jiang L, ..., Liu J, ..., Schnabl B. Bacteriophage targeting of gut bacterium attenuates alcoholic liver disease. Nature. 2019; 575(7783):505–511. PMID: 31723265.
Lang S, Duan Y, Liu J, Torralba MG, Kuelbs C, ..., Schnabl B. Intestinal Fungal Dysbiosis and Systemic Immune Response to Fungi in Patients With Alcoholic Hepatitis. Hepatology. 2020; 71(2):522–538. PMID: 31228214.
Shaver CM, Liu J, Xu K, Yang G, Morrison MC, ..., Trindade AJ. Outcomes of lung transplantation from donors with hepatitis C viremia with outpatient initiation of antiviral therapy. JHLT Open. 2023; 3:100029. PMID: 40145122.