Renowned scientist joins UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson as chair of the Department of Physiology

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson is pleased to announce the appointment of Mingyu Liang, MB, PhD, as chair of the Department of Physiology, effective June 12. Dr. Liang brings to the university a robust research portfolio and a wealth of expertise in molecular systems medicine.

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Dr. Liang joins the University of Arizona from the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he served as the vice chair for interdisciplinary and translational research in the Department of Physiology since 2021. During his tenure at MCW, Dr. Liang held numerous leadership roles, including serving as the Kohler Co. Professor in Cardiovascular Research and overseeing the Program for Medicine and AI Research. He also co-led the MCW Cardiovascular Center hypertension program and directed the Center of Systems Molecular Medicine, which he established in 2014.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Liang join our faculty as the chair of the Department of Physiology,” said Michael M. I. Abecassis, MD, MBA, Iovanna C. Lopez Dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. “His exceptional research accomplishments and leadership experience make him the ideal candidate to lead our department and advance our mission of excellence in medical education and scientific discovery.”

Dr. Liang earned his Bachelor of Medicine – equivalent to a U.S. Doctor of Medicine degree – from Shanghai Medical University and went on to obtain a doctorate in biomedical science (physiology) from the Mayo Graduate School. He completed postdoctoral fellowships in nephrology research at the Mayo Clinic and Foundation in Rochester, Minnesota, and in genomics at MCW.

Dr. Liang’s research focuses on genomics, epigenomics, precision medicine, regulatory RNA, and cellular metabolism, with a particular emphasis on hypertension and cardiovascular and kidney diseases. Over the last decade, his research group has consistently received annual funding of $2 million, and he is currently the principal investigator on active National Institutes of Health grants totaling more than $16 million. Dr. Liang’s contributions to physiology have been recognized with prestigious awards, including the American Physiological Society’s Henry Pickering Bowditch Award in 2012.

“I am honored and excited to join the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson as the chair of the Department of Physiology,” Dr. Liang said. “I am committed to advancing the understanding of human physiology and translating scientific discoveries into clinical applications to improve patient care.”

In addition to his research achievements, Dr. Liang is deeply committed to education and has played an active role in medical and graduate curriculum development and direction. He has mentored numerous doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, earning him recognition as the Outstanding Teacher of the Year by MCW graduate students in 2009.