Dave Liu, a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology, received this year’s Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR). The award recognizes the research contributions of a CAR member early in his or her career.
Dr. Liu’s research is focused on image guided minimally invasive techniques for the treatment of cancer and cancer-related conditions. He is an expert on radioembolization (an outpatient procedure in which radioactive particles are injected directly into the arterial supply of liver tumors through a small puncture in the groin) and treatment of blood clots and ablation (burning or freezing of solid tumors).
One of only 11 physicians in Canada to be inducted as a fellow in the Society of Interventional Radiology, he holds a clinical faculty appointment at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. He gives 40 to 50 lectures a year around the world, and is the driving force behind the Symposium on Hepatic Oncology at Whistler (SHOW), which held its second annual meeting in February, drawing 178 people from such institutions as the Johns Hopkins University and Duke University, and from as far away as Scotland and Australia.
Dr. Liu is heavily involved in clinical research trials, including one testing the effectiveness of injecting and infecting tumours with genetically modified viruses, which then trigger the body’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. Another study is seeking to determine the optimal size and composition of drug-eluting beads that release chemotherapy drugs into the tumour’s blood vessel network. He also is the Co-Chair and Co-Founder of a national expert panel exploring the best practices for management of deep vein blood clots in the legs.
Most recently, he has begun a collaboration with colleagues Anna Celler and Francois Benard in the Department of Radiology and Urs Hafeli in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, to develop the next generation of radioactive microparticles for liver cancer that are more visible, more accurate, and more easily administered.