Rate My Professor Liya Qiao

Liya Qiao, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Cellular, Molecular and Genetic Medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Her academic credentials include a Ph.D., an M.S. in virology emphasizing genetics, and a B.S. from Nankai University in 1988. She joined Virginia Commonwealth University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics around 2005 and has advanced to her current professorial position. Dr. Qiao actively contributes to graduate training in neuroscience and physiology programs and has served on the School of Medicine Professionalism Committee.

Dr. Qiao's research investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying sensory neuronal plasticity in physiologic and pathologic conditions, with a focus on visceral hypersensitivity, pain pathways, and neuro-glia interactions in the gastrointestinal and urinary systems. Key areas include the roles of Piezo2 channels in sex-dependent colonic mechanical sensitivity, Plp1-expressing perineuronal dorsal root ganglion cells in hypersensitivity, satellite glial cells bridging sensory neuron crosstalk in visceral pain, transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V1 regulation via phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathways, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in synaptic plasticity and inflammation-induced pain. Notable publications encompass "Piezo2 regulates colonic mechanical sensitivity in a sex-dependent manner" (2023), "Plp1-expressing perineuronal DRG cells facilitate colonic mechanical hypersensitivity" (2024), "Satellite Glial Cells Bridge Sensory Neuron Crosstalk in Visceral Pain" (2024), "Regulation of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V1 protein synthesis by the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway in colonic hypersensitivity" (2017), and "Inflammation and activity augment brain-derived neurotrophic factor contribution to synaptic plasticity and pain" (2016). Her work receives support from National Institutes of Health grant R01 DK118137 and Commonwealth Health Research Board funding investigating TrkB.T1 in bowel and urinary bladder comorbidity.