Dr. Shu Q. Liu is interested in cardiovascular protective engineering, the engineering aspect of cardiovascular protective medicine. In particular, Dr. Liu intends to understand the naturally occurring systems protective mechanisms in ischemic disorders – Ischemia in an organ can activate protective mechanisms involving not only the ischemic organ, but also distant organs that discharge cells and/or proteins to protect the ischemic organ from injury. These systems protective mechanisms augment the survival capability of the injured organ, thereby reducing cell death and organ failure. The naturally occurring systems protective mechanisms can be used to develop protective engineering strategies for treatment of ischemia-induced disorders.