Bruce T. Liang, MD, FACCDean, UConn School of MedicineRay Neag Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine
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Bruce T. Liang, M.D., is an internationally recognized cardiovascular physician-scientist and national leader in academic medicine. He is dean of UConn School of Medicine and the Ray Neag Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine.
Dr. Liang first joined UConn Health in 2002 as a physician-scientist faculty member and was appointed dean of the medical school in 2015. As dean he has led to new heights UConn’s advancement of medicine, medical education, and research.
In 2021 Dr. Liang led the School of Medicine’s 50th anniversary celebration of its generational community impact of producing five decades of new physicians, surgeons, scientists, and community leaders to serve the state of Connecticut and beyond while increasing diversity and health equity in academic medicine. In fact, U.S. News & World Report has named it as one of the 10 most diverse medical schools in the nation, as 23% of its student body are from underrepresented groups in medicine.
Importantly, UConn Health is Connecticut’s number one producer of physicians, dentists, and surgeons, as well as a significant source of new scientists. Plus, it annually trains more than 100 postdoctoral fellows and 100 Ph.D. students. It is has one of the largest Master of Public Health programs, graduating more than 1,000 students so far with MPH degrees.
Under Dr. Liang’s leadership the medical school has received record-breaking research grant funding of over $100 million year after year. He also has overseen the school’s successful implementation of a new-age, team-based and patient-centered four-year curriculum since 2016, better preparing future physicians for the rapidly evolving health care field. In fact, UConn was the first medical school in the nation to eliminate lectures and continues to offer early, hands-on clinical care exposure at the very start of medical school along with the integration of basic sciences education. The school also has completed several successful LCME accreditation surveys under Dr. Liang’s leadership, plus it is highly ranked nationally among all other public medical schools as No. 30 in primary care and No. 31 in research by U.S. News & World Report.
As an active researcher, Dr. Liang’s cutting-edge translational research contributions have advanced scientific knowledge about heart disease. His research has been continuously funded since 1986 by the NIH, the American Heart Association, and the U.S. Department of Defense. He is widely published in the areas of cardiac myocyte, intact heart biology, and heart failure translational research. His latest research investigations have developed a new potential medication for advanced heart failure patients. This research, jointly performed with scientists at the NIH, has received patents from the U.S. and EU.
Dr. Liang is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American College of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association, and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of University Cardiologists, the Council on Clinical Cardiology and Basic Cardiovascular Sciences, and the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. He has been consistently named one of America’s Top Doctors and Best Doctors in America for cardiovascular disease care.
Prior to joining UConn Health in 2002, for 13 years he served the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine as associate professor of medicine and pharmacology. Dr. Liang received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard in biochemistry and molecular biology and his medical degree from Harvard Medical College. He completed his internal medicine internship and residency training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and cardiology fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Degree | Institution | Major |
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BA | Harvard College | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
MD | Harvard Medical School | Medicine |
Post-Graduate Training
Training | Institution | Specialty |
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Internship | Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania | Medicine |
Residency | Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania | Internal Medicine |
Fellowship | Brigham and Women's Hospital | Medicine (Research/Clinical) |
Fellowship | Harvard Medical School | Medicine (Research) |
Awards
Name of Award/Honor | Awarding Organization |
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Blue Precision Designation in Cardiology | Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield |
Elected as a Member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering | Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering |
National Steering Committee of LEADERS in Clinical Weight Management | |
Development of a New Method to Detect Heart Failure via a Simple Blood Test | |
Lifetime Member of Global Who's Who | |
Named an America’s Top Doctor by Castle Connolly in Cardiovascular Disease Since 2006 | Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. |
Elected and Inducted into the Association of University Cardiologists | Association of University Cardiologists |
Elected and Inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation | American Society for Clinical Investigation |
Established Investigatorship, 1993-1998 | American Heart Association |
First Place, Mead Johnson Excellence of Research Award | National Student Research Forum |
First Place, Roche Laboratories Award in Basic Sciences, National Student Research Forum | Roche Laboratories |
Name & Description | Category | Role | Type | Scope | Start Year | End Year |
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Election as a new member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering | Professional/Scientific Organization | Member | External | State | 2009 | |
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering REVIEW PANEL: Enabling Technologies for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine | Advisory Committee | Panel member | External | National | 2008 | 2009 |
Peer Review Committee, Integrated Cardiac Biology, Northeast Affiliate of American Heart Assocation | Professional/Scientific Organization | Committee Member | External | National | 2007 | |
Association of University Cardiologists | Professional/Scientific Organization | Member | External | National | 2005 | |
NHLBI/NIH SCCOR Review Panel | Advisory Committee | Panel member | External | National | 2004 | |
Center for Scientific Review, Cardiovascular System and Pharmacology ZRG1 HP Panel | Professional/Scientific Organization | Panel member | External | National | 2003 | |
Peer Review Committee, Cardiovascular Pathophysiology III, National American Heart Association | Professional/Scientific Organization | Committee Member | External | National | 2002 | 2004 |
American Journal of Physiology | Editorial Board | Editorial Board | External | National | 1999 | |
Peer Review Committee, Molecular Signaling, National American Heart Association | Professional/Scientific Organization | Committee Member | External | National | 1997 | 2001 |
Dr. Liang’s research program has focused on the fundamental signaling mechanisms that regulate cardiovascular functions. Using the concepts and tools of biochemistry and molecular biology, integrated with a cellular and pharmacological approach, the program has addressed and elucidated novel functions and signaling mechanisms for the various purinergic receptors in the heart. Two tracks of development have evolved new directions and models relevant to advances in cardiovascular research. The first direction is exemplified by the development of a novel cardiac cell model for cardioprotection and ischemic preconditioning. The development of efficient cardiac myocyte transfection enables the use of an approach to delineate mechanism and to develop new receptor ligands important in protecting the myocyte against ischemia. This model is now widely recognized and is currently used by different laboratories. Certain basic observations, for example, those related to his studies on the cardiac adenosine A3 receptor, have been repeated and investigated further by others. His research has yielded new insights on the fundamental mechanisms of cardiac myocyte protection. In a second example, a new transgenic mouse line overexpressing a novel P2X purinergic ligand-gated receptor channel shows enhanced basal cardiac contractility and relaxation. This transgenic line provides the proof of principle that this ligand-gated channel is a potential novel therapeutic target for the treatment of heart failure. It is anticipated that the program will continue to develop new translational/clinical research projects. Some examples of such research include the ongoing studies on novel purine receptors and their ligands in protecting the ischemic myocardium and in treating heart failure. Study on identifying novel mutations of the adenosine transporter represents another example. Overall, He has had continuous NIH support for the last 16 years. His work advances novel concepts on signaling mechanisms and receptor function. He is an internationally recognized expert on adenosine receptor biology and myocyte function.
Not accepting students for Lab Rotations at this time
Journal Articles
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2-Substituted (N)-Methanocarba A3 Adenosine Receptor Agonists: In Silico, In Vitro, and In Vivo Characterization.
ACS pharmacology & translational science 2024 Jul;7(7):2154-2173
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Fluorescent liposomal nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery in ischemic stroke therapy.
Biomaterials science 2023 Dec;11(24):7856-7866
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Functional mutation, splice, distribution, and divergence analysis of impactful genes associated with heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases.
Scientific reports 2023 Oct;13(1):16769
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Alicyclic Ring Size Variation of 4-Phenyl-2-naphthoic Acid Derivatives as P2Y14 Receptor Antagonists.
Journal of medicinal chemistry 2023 Jul;66(13):9076-9094
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Transcriptomic analysis reveals novel age-independent immunomodulatory proteins as a mode of cerebroprotection in P2X4 receptor knockout mice after ischemic stroke.
Purinergic signalling 2023 Jul;
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Cardiac and noncardiac biomarkers in patients undergoing anthracycline chemotherapy - a prospective analysis.
Cardio-oncology (London, England) 2023 Apr;9(1):23
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SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Dynamics in Healthcare Workers after mRNA Vaccination.
Vaccines 2023 Feb;11(2):
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Nexinhib20 Inhibits Neutrophil Adhesion and β2 Integrin Activation by Antagonizing Rac-1-Guanosine 5'-Triphosphate Interaction.
Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 2022 Oct;209(8):1574-1585
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PLC (Phospholipase C) β2 Promotes VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor)-Induced Vascular Permeability.
Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology 2022 Jul;101161ATVBAHA122317645
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RNA-seq driven expression and enrichment analysis to investigate CVD genes with associated phenotypes among high-risk heart failure patients.
Human genomics 2021 Nov;15(1):67
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Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 After Infection or Vaccination in Children and Young Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Inflammatory bowel diseases 2021 Sep;
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Neuroprotective and neuro-rehabilitative effects of acute purinergic receptor P2X4 (P2X4R) blockade after ischemic stroke.
Experimental neurology 2020 Apr;329113308
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Prevention and rescue of cardiac dysfunction by methanocarba adenosine monophosphonate derivatives.
Purinergic signalling 2020 Jan;16(1):61-72
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Debutant iOS app and gene-disease complexities in clinical genomics and precision medicine.
Clinical and translational medicine 2019 Oct;8(1):26
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Ca2+ Signaling in Cardiac Fibroblasts and Fibrosis-Associated Heart Diseases.
Journal of cardiovascular development and disease 2019 Sep;6(4):
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100 Years of evolving gene-disease complexities and scientific debutants.
Briefings in Bioinformatics, Oxford University Press. 2019 Apr;
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MAV-clic: Management, Analysis and Visualization of Clinical Data
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association Open, Oxford University Press. 2019 Apr;2(1):23–28
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Usefulness of Circulating Caspase-3 p17 and Caspase-1 p20 Peptides and Cardiac Troponin 1 During Cardioplegia to Gauge Myocardial Preservation.
The American journal of cardiology 2019 Mar;123(6):899-904
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Deletion of the P2X4 receptor is neuroprotective acutely, but induces a depressive phenotype during recovery from ischemic stroke.
Brain, behavior, and immunity 2017 Jul;66302-312
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Reduced in vivo toxicity of doxorubicin by encapsulation in cholesterol-containing self-assembled nanoparticles.
Pharmacological research 2016 Mar;10793-101
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Dsp rul: a spontaneous mouse mutation in desmoplakin as a model of Carvajal-Huerta syndrome.
Experimental and molecular pathology 2015 Feb;98(2):164-72
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Cardiac P2X purinergic receptors as a new pathway for increasing Na⁺ entry in cardiac myocytes.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2014 Sep;307(10):H1469-77
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Novel protective role of endogenous cardiac myocyte P2X4 receptors in heart failure.
Circulation. Heart failure 2014 Mar;7(3):510-8
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CD13 is essential for inflammatory trafficking and infarct healing following permanent coronary artery occlusion in mice.
Cardiovascular research 2013 Oct;100(1):74-83
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The therapeutic effect of 2-cyclohexylthio-AMP in heart failure.
Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology 2013 Jun;61(6):553-9
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5'-Phosphate and 5'-phosphonate ester derivatives of (N)-methanocarba adenosine with in vivo cardioprotective activity.
Journal of medicinal chemistry 2013 Feb;56(3):902-14
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Elevated vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 abundance contributes to increased angiogenesis in vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1-deficient mice.
Circulation 2012 Aug;126(6):741-52
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Cardiac P2X(4) receptors: targets in ischemia and heart failure?
Circulation research 2012 Aug;111(4):397-401
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The clinical impact of circulating caspase-3 p17 level: a potential new biomarker for myocardial injury and cardiovascular disease.
Future cardiology 2011 Jul;7(4):443-5
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Adenosine A(3) receptor stimulation induces protection of skeletal muscle from eccentric exercise-mediated injury.
American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology 2010 Jul;299(1):R259-67
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Treatment of heart failure by a methanocarba derivative of adenosine monophosphate: implication for a role of cardiac purinergic P2X receptors.
The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics 2010 Jun;333(3):920-8
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Structure-activity relationship of (N)-Methanocarba phosphonate analogues of 5'-AMP as cardioprotective agents acting through a cardiac P2X receptor.
Journal of medicinal chemistry 2010 Mar;53(6):2562-76
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TRPM7-mediated Ca2+ signals confer fibrogenesis in human atrial fibrillation.
Circulation research 2010 Mar;106(5):992-1003
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Reversal of cardiac myocyte dysfunction as a unique mechanism of rescue by P2X4 receptors in cardiomyopathy.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2009 Apr;296(4):H1089-95
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Role of P2X purinergic receptors in the rescue of ischemic heart failure.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2008 Sep;295(3):H1191-H1197
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Attenuation of apoptosis in vitro and ischemia/reperfusion injury in vivo in mouse skeletal muscle by P2Y6 receptor activation.
Pharmacological research 2008 Jan;58(3-4):232-9
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Protective roles of adenosine A1, A2A, and A3 receptors in skeletal muscle ischemia and reperfusion injury.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2007 Dec;293(6):H3685-91
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Characterization and mechanism of P2X receptor-mediated increase in cardiac myocyte contractility.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2007 Nov;293(5):H3056-62
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Neoceptors: reengineering GPCRs to recognize tailored ligands.
Trends in pharmacological sciences 2007 Mar;28(3):111-6
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P2X purinergic receptor-mediated ionic current in cardiac myocytes of calsequestrin model of cardiomyopathy: implications for the treatment of heart failure.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2007 Feb;292(2):H1077-84
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Orthogonal activation of the reengineered A3 adenosine receptor (neoceptor) using tailored nucleoside agonists.
Journal of medicinal chemistry 2006 May;49(9):2689-702
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Extracellular ATP-stimulated current in wild-type and P2X4 receptor transgenic mouse ventricular myocytes: implications for a cardiac physiologic role of P2X4 receptors.
FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2006 Feb;20(2):277-84
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Semi-rational design of (north)-methanocarba nucleosides as dual acting A(1) and A(3) adenosine receptor agonists: novel prototypes for cardioprotection.
Journal of medicinal chemistry 2005 Dec;48(26):8103-7
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A beneficial role of cardiac P2X4 receptors in heart failure: rescue of the calsequestrin overexpression model of cardiomyopathy.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2004 Sep;287(3):H1096-103
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Phospholipase D2 localizes to the plasma membrane and regulates angiotensin II receptor endocytosis.
Molecular biology of the cell 2004 Mar;15(3):1024-30
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Role of direct RhoA-phospholipase D1 interaction in mediating adenosine-induced protection from cardiac ischemia.
FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2004 Feb;18(2):406-8
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Serotonin mechanisms in heart valve disease II: the 5-HT2 receptor and its signaling pathway in aortic valve interstitial cells.
The American journal of pathology 2002 Dec;161(6):2209-18
Book Chapters
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Systematically Dealing Practical Issues Associated to Healthcare Data Analytics.
Advances in Information and Communication. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems. Springer Nature Switzerland. 2019 Feb;69.599-613
Abstracts
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PROMIS-Med: Precise and Reproducible OMICS-Data Management and Integrative System for Precision Medicine
Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) 2018 Jul;261
Conference Papers
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PAS-Code: iOS App with Mobile Access to the International Classified Disease and Drug Databases for Health Informatics & Precision Medicine (In Press)
Session: Health Informatics and Data Science, The IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (IEEE-BIBM) 2019 Nov;13.8.
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PAS-SNP: iOS App with GWAS SNP-Disease Database for Personalized Genomics Research (In Press)
Session: Data Mining from Genomic Variants and Its Application to Genome-wide Analysis. The IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (IEEE-BIBM). 2019 Nov;13.8.
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Purine receptors: GPCR structure and agonist design.
Molecular interventions 2004 Dec;4(6):337-47