FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 21, 2001

ALLERGY, IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCHER NAMED CHAIR OF UC DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER DERMATOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Fu-Tong Liu, will develop research program, oversee patient care clinics.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- Fu-Tong Liu, an allergy and immunology researcher with special interests in skin cancer, has been named chair of the Department of Dermatology at the UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center.

Liu, who holds both a medical degree and a doctoral degree in chemistry, specializes in the study of galectins, a family of proteins that regulate cell activities. One of these proteins, galectin-3, promotes the development of asthma in animals. Other galectins play a role in the development of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, and in basal cell carcinoma, a less lethal but potentially disfiguring variety of skin cancer.

As chair of the dermatology department, Liu will be responsible for patient care in UC Davis Medical Center dermatology clinics as well as physician education and research. He will also oversee departmental studies on wound healing and skin aging. One of his first tasks will be to recruit a physician-scientist for an emerging skin cancer and immuno-dermatology research program in the department.

Liu comes to UC Davis from La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, where he was head of the Division of Allergy. He also served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.

He earned his doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago and his medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine. He completed his residency training at UC San Diego.

Liu has published more than 100 articles on research related to asthma, immunology and skin cancer. He will start his new position on Sept. 1.

A photograph of Liu is available on the Web at http://news.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/images/futong_liu_color.jpg

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http://news.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

Media Contact:

Laurie Slothower , Medical News Office: (916) 734-9023

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