Chunyu Liu, PhD
Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Biostatistics

PhD, Boston University
PhD, University of Maine
MA, Boston University



Dr. Chunyu Liu earned her PhD in Biostatistics with a specialization in statistical genetics from the Department of Biostatistics at Boston University. She embarked on her professional journey at Biogen Idec Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she served as a statistical geneticist. Additionally, she made significant contributions to the Population Sciences Branch & Framingham Heart Study (FHS), NHLBI, located in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Throughout her career, Dr. Liu has been actively engaged in diverse projects assessing risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Her notable portfolio includes leadership roles as the Principal Investigator (PI) for three R01 grants and an R21 grant since 2018. Moreover, she serves as a subcontract PI for two R21 grants and has secured funding from the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. In collaborative endeavors, she plays a pivotal role as the lead biostatistician in several R01 grants, contributing to over 135 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr. Liu often holds significant authorship positions in these publications, including as the first, second, or last author in more than 40 papers.
Dr. Liu's contributions span significant collaborative research endeavors, where she has held key roles as the lead statistician and co-convener in multiple working groups within the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genetic Epidemiology (CHARGE). Currently, she serves as a co-convener of the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) working group, leading efforts to develop analytical methods for mtDNA sequence variations.
Furthermore, Dr. Liu shares her expertise as a member of the NIH’s Genetics of Health and Disease Study Section within the Center for Scientific Review. Her commitment extends to editorial responsibilities, acting as an Associate Editor for the Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal and an Academic Editor for PLOS ONE. Additionally, she plays an active role in the International Genetic Epidemiology Society, co-chairing its Education Committee.

Investigator
Framingham Heart Study


Member
Boston University
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research




Life's Essential 8, Digital Cognitive Markers, and Alzheimer's Disease Risk
05/15/2025 - 01/31/2030 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Aging
1R01AG086303-01A1

Calorie Restriction, Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy, Cardiometabolic Profiles, and Biological Aging
08/01/2024 - 07/31/2026 (Subcontract PI)
Trustees of Tufts College NIH NIA
1R21AG085086-01

Mitochondrial DNA, Nuclear DNA Methylation, and Cardiometabolic Disease Traits
09/01/2021 - 06/30/2026 (PI)
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
5R01HL155569-04

Trans-omic Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and Its Relation to Cardiovascular Disease
07/01/2021 - 04/30/2026 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
5R01AA028263-05

Plasma proteins, sex and Alzheimer's disease: Proteome-wide analyses of the UK Biobank and Framingham Heart Study
01/22/2025 - 01/21/2026 (Subcontract PI)
Duke University Cure Alzheimers Fund


Sex Differences in Alzheimer's Disease Progression: Framingham Heart Study
10/15/2022 - 11/14/2024 (Subcontract PI)
Duke University Cure Alzheimers Fund


Mitochondrial DNA Copy number and Sequence Variation in Relation to Age, Metabolic traits, and Alzheimer's Disease Related Phenotypes
09/15/2018 - 05/31/2024 (Multi-PI)
PI: Chunyu Liu, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5R01AG059727-04

Validation of the DCTclock drawing task as a cognitive screening tool for prodromal Alzheimers disease in the Framingham Heart Study
09/30/2021 - 05/31/2023 (Subcontract PI)
Brown University NIH NIA
1R21AG072588-02

Sex Differences in Alzheimer's Disease Progression: Framingham Heart Study
02/15/2021 - 02/14/2023 (Subcontract PI)
Duke University Cure Alzheimers Fund


Mitochondrial heteroplasmy as an endophenotype of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders
07/23/2019 - 11/30/2022 (Subcontract PI)
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine/CWRU NIH NIMH
5R21MH121165-02

Showing 10 of 11 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2026 Life's Essential 8, Digital Cognitive Markers, and Alzheimer's Disease Risk 5R01AG086303-02
2025 Life's Essential 8, Digital Cognitive Markers, and Alzheimer's Disease Risk 1R01AG086303-01A1
2025 Trans-omic Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and its Relation to Cardiovascular Disease 5R01AA028263-05
2024 Mitochondrial DNA, Nuclear DNA Methylation, and Cardiometabolic Disease Traits 5R01HL155569-04
2024 Trans-omic Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and its Relation to Cardiovascular Disease 5R01AA028263-04
2023 Mitochondrial DNA, Nuclear DNA Methylation, and Cardiometabolic Disease Traits 5R01HL155569-03
2023 Trans-omic Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and its Relation to Cardiovascular Disease 5R01AA028263-03
2022 Mitochondrial DNA, Nuclear DNA Methylation, and Cardiometabolic Disease Traits 5R01HL155569-02
2022 Trans-omic Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and its Relation to Cardiovascular Disease 5R01AA028263-02
2021 Mitochondrial DNA, Nuclear DNA Methylation, and Cardiometabolic Disease Traits 1R01HL155569-01A1
Showing 10 of 17 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Sun X, Liu X, Bulekova K, Pitsillides AN, Guo X, Yong Q, Raffield LM, Rotter JI, Rich SS, Abecasis G, Carson AP, Vasan RS, Bis JC, Psaty BM, Boerwinkle E, Fitzpatrick AL, Satizabal CL, Arking DE, Ding J, Levy D, Liu C. ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS OF MITOCHONDRIAL HETEROPLASMIC VARIANTS AND CARDIOMETABOLIC TRAITS. medRxiv. 2026 Jan 25.View Related Profiles. PMID: 41659078; PMCID: PMC12879650; DOI: 10.64898/2026.01.23.26344724;
     
  2. Zhang Y, Joehanes R, Huan T, Weber LM, Yang Q, Lunetta KL, Levy D, Liu C. Integration of latent factor analysis into multivariable Mendelian randomization. Eur J Epidemiol. 2026 Jan 12.View Related Profiles. PMID: 41524881; DOI: 10.1007/s10654-025-01324-8;
     
  3. Ni Y, Balakumar P, Islam T, Haque SE, Shahriar MH, Sarwar G, Ahmed A, Liu C, Pierce BL, Sargis RM, Jackson B, Jasmine F, Kibriya MG, Ahsan H, Argos M. Cross-sectional association of arsenic exposure with thyroid function in Bangladeshi children aged 5 to 7 years. Environ Health. 2026 Jan 07; 25(1):9.View Related Profiles. PMID: 41501906; PMCID: PMC12870816; DOI: 10.1186/s12940-025-01261-9;
     
  4. Paul TJ, Sadaniantz K, Soni A, Asaker JC, Pathiravasan CH, Mehawej J, Filippaios A, Zhang Y, Wang Z, Liu C, Lin H, Murabito JM, McManus DD, Kovell LC. Patterns of adherence to home blood pressure monitoring among men and women in the Electronic Framingham Heart Study. PLoS One. 2025; 20(12):e0337284.View Related Profiles. PMID: 41406142; PMCID: PMC12711059; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0337284;
     
  5. Lai M, Kim K, Zheng Y, Castellani CA, Ratliff SM, Wang M, Liu X, Haessler J, Huan T, Bonsu K, Newcomb C, McKessy K, Bielak LF, Zhao W, Joehanes R, Ma J, Guo X, Manson JE, Grove ML, Bressler J, Taylor KD, Lappalainen T, Kasela S, Blackwell TW, Lake NJ, Faul JD, Ferrier KR, Ekker SC, Hou L, Kooperberg C, Reiner AP, Zhang K, Peyser PA, Fornage M, Boerwinkle E, Raffield LM, Carson AP, Rich SS, Liu Y, Levy D, Rotter JI, Smith JA, Arking DE, Liu C. Epigenome-wide association study of nuclear DNA methylation in relation to mitochondrial heteroplasmy. Nat Commun. 2025 Dec 02; 16(1):10962. PMID: 41330919; PMCID: PMC12689632; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65845-2;
     
  6. Lee S, Joehanes R, Huan T, Liu C, Levy D, Ma J. Proteomics networks linking diet to cardiometabolic risk factors: the Framingham Heart Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2026 Feb; 123(2):101131. PMID: 41338326; PMCID: PMC12743626; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.101131;
     
  7. Liu C, Joehanes R, Ma J, Xie J, Yang J, Wang M, Huan T, Hwang SJ, Wen J, Sun Q, Demirkale CY, Heard-Costa NL, Orchard P, Carson AP, Haessler JW, Raffield LM, Reiner AP, Franceschini N, Auer PL, Kooperberg C, Li Y, O'Connor G, Murabito JM, Munson P, Levy D. Integrating whole genome and transcriptome sequencing to characterize the genetic architecture of isoform variation. Nat Commun. 2025 Nov 22; 16(1):10615. PMID: 41274869; PMCID: PMC12660940; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-64336-8;
     
  8. Wang M, Zheng Y, Lai M, Saake E, Liu X, Guo X, Taylor KD, Huan T, Joehanes R, Nannini DR, Zhang K, Lake NJ, Castellani CA, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Liu Y, Raffield LM, Carson AP, Fornage M, Ma J, Arking DE, Hou L, Levy D, Liu C. Association of Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Mitochondrial DNA-Based Aging Metrics Provides Insights Into Mechanisms of Aging-Related Diseases. Aging Cell. 2025 Dec; 24(12):e70279. PMID: 41132105; PMCID: PMC12686565; DOI: 10.1111/acel.70279;
     
  9. Zhang Y, Rong J, Wang X, Schramm E, Pathiravasan CH, Borrelli B, Faro JM, Benjamin EJ, Trinquart L, Liu C, Murabito JM. Smartphone App-Based Survey Deployment Patterns and Longitudinal Response Rate: Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2025 Oct 10; 27:e73972.View Related Profiles. PMID: 41071587; PMCID: PMC12552817; DOI: 10.2196/73972;
     
  10. Rotti L, Murabito JM, Chen J, Cao Y, Ragab AAY, Liu C, Wang M, Doyle MF, Lunetta KL. Immune cells and inflammatory proteins are differentially associated with subsequent DNA methylation biological aging measures in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort. Geroscience. 2025 Oct 02.View Related Profiles. PMID: 41039184; DOI: 10.1007/s11357-025-01883-4;
     
Showing 10 of 186 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 186 publications over 23 distinct years, with a maximum of 22 publications in 2022

YearPublications
20033
20041
20052
20063
20076
20082
20091
20112
20122
20132
20143
20157
201610
201714
201813
201913
202011
202114
202222
202316
202418
202518
20263
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Genomewide associaiton study, mitochondrial DNA, DNA methylation and cardiovascular disease

Dr. Liu's commitment to academia encompasses both teaching and mentoring. She has taught several graduate-level courses including two core courses for the MS and PhD programs in Biostatistics. Dr. Liu's dedication extends to mentoring junior faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and students enrolled in various programs—ranging from PhD and MS to MPH. At present, Dr. Liu is the primary mentor for four PhD students. Furthermore, she holds crucial administrative positions, co-directing the MS in Applied Biostatistics and serving as co-chair of the Department PhD Career Development Committee and the Student Paper Competition Committee.

Available to Mentor as: (Review Mentor Role Definitions):
  • Advisor
  • Career Mentor
  • Co-Mentor or Peer Mentor
  • Project Mentor
  • Research / Scholarly Mentor
Contact for Mentoring:

801 Massachusetts Ave
Boston MA 02118
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