In March 2026, Brain reported a compound identified from 24,000 small molecules that blocked galectin-3, easing brain inflammation and movement problems in mice.
USC professor Fu-Tong Liu, a coauthor, is also currently using AI to target galectin-12 for obesity treatment.
One path leads to brain disease, the other to obesity. Yet both trace back to an unexpected experiment more than 40 years ago—one that opened the door to Liu’s lifelong journey across disciplines and into glycoscience.
Setbacks Build, Spirits Soar
Born into an academic family, Fu-Tong Liu loved learning from an early age.
After an unexpectedly poor entrance exam placed him in Cheng Kung High School’s night division, he used his days to read and study—turning disappointment into momentum.
Fu-Tong Liu (front center) with his parents and brothers in high school
He later excelled, advanced to senior high school, and entered National Taiwan University.
Defying his parents’ hopes that he study medicine, Liu chose chemistry, then earned a full scholarship to the University of Chicago, where he received his Ph.D. in 1976.
That rigorous training laid the foundation for his later work on proteins, glycans, and cellular mechanisms.
Yet just as his scientific career seemed ready to take off, Liu reached a crossroads—uncertain where his path should lead next.
Direction Found, Boundaries Unbound
After earning his Ph.D., Liu conducted chemistry research at the University of Illinois.
During a visit to Taiwan, he shared his uncertainty with NTU professor Chao-Hwa Yang, who urged him to look beyond chemistry and explore immunology.
Fu-Tong Liu (fourth from right) with Professor Chao-Hwa Yang’s lab at National Taiwan University
Liu picked up several immunology books and was immediately captivated.
The immune system’s precision, complexity, and mysteries opened a new door, leading him from chemistry into immunology and allergy research.
He then entered postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute and in a year and a half was promoted to a faculty at the Institute.
Fu-Tong Liu (front row, second from left) with colleagues at Scripps Research
In later campus talks, Liu often cited the Greek philosopher Heraclitus on change.
To him, change does not mean abandoning the past, but carrying what one has learned into new fields and asking new questions.
Chemistry never left his work. Instead, it became his distinctive lens for understanding life—and laid the groundwork for his unexpected discovery of galectins.
Experiment Strayed, Discovery Made
In 1985, while searching for an IgE receptor, Liu instead found an unfamiliar protein that bound to sugars on IgE.
Rather than dismiss the unexpected result, he pursued it and helped identify it as a glycan-binding protein.
Similar proteins had been reported under different names, so Liu and international colleagues helped unite them as the galectin family.
IgE-binding protein Liu discovered became galectin-3.
He calls the discovery serendipity—but chance alone is not enough.
Breakthroughs begin when scientists notice the unexpected and follow where it leads.
Medicine Gained, Research Sustained
As Liu delved deeper into immunology and allergy, he wanted to connect molecular discoveries with disease, patients, and treatment.
Already a Ph.D. scientist, he returned to school at the University of Miami School of Medicine to attend the two-year Ph.D. to M.D. program, while continuing research in San Diego—commuting between Florida and California, classrooms and laboratories.
After earning his M.D. in 1987, he trained in internal medicine at UC Irvine and dermatology at UC San Diego, becoming board-certified in dermatology in 1993.
By day, he treated patients; after hours, he returned to research. For Liu, medicine and science were not competing paths, but two sides of the same pursuit.
This journey united chemistry, immunology, medicine, and dermatology—and revealed how galectins connect allergy and inflammation with psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and other diseases.
Research Led, Momentum Spread
In 2001, Liu became professor and chair of dermatology at the UC Davis School of Medicine, leading the department for nearly over a decade.
Dermatology Chair Fu-Tong Liu (second from left) with fellow department chairs
He advanced basic and translational research, recruited top talent, expanded clinical care, and strengthened teaching—turning the department from a deficit into an annual surplus of close to $2 million.
Beyond science, Liu proved a skilled builder of teams and institutions.
His central goal remained the same: bring patients’ questions into the laboratory—and return discoveries to patient care.
Roles Divide, Pathways Unite
As a pioneer and leading investigator in the study of galectins, Liu’s innovative research spans the fields of immunology, dermatology, and glycobiology and deals with the pathogenesis of allergic and autoimmune diseases, inflammatory skin diseases, and cancer.
His research revealed that galectins are a protein family with individual members having distinct roles.
Galectin-3 is linked to immunity, cancer, skin inflammation, and neurodegeneration, while galectin-7 is closely tied to skin diseases.
Galectin-12, discovered by Liu’s team, acts like a metabolic switch in fat cells.
Removing it accelerates fat breakdown, reduces fat storage, and improves insulin sensitivity—making it a promising target for obesity and metabolic disease.
These seemingly unrelated conditions may share common pathways, including cell damage, immune imbalance, and chronic inflammation.
The key is not whether galectins are simply “good” or “bad,” but which member acts in which cell, disease, and stage.
Galectins also function like a cellular damage alarm. When lysosomes or vesicles rupture, exposed sugars attract galectins to the injury site.
This response can support repair—but if chronically activated, it may intensify neuroinflammation.
Signals Glow, Barriers Bow
A study published in Brain this March used galectin-3 clustering to build a high-throughput screening platform.
Researchers tracked fluorescent galectin-3 spots inside cells, then screened about 24,000 small molecules for compounds that could block them.
One candidate entered cells, crossed the blood-brain barrier, and showed potential to reduce neuroinflammation and disease damage in a Huntington’s disease animal model.
Liu stresses that he was one member of a larger team—and that a promising compound is not yet a drug. Dosage, toxicity, long-term safety, and human effectiveness still require rigorous testing.
That caution reflects his belief in collaboration. Modern drug discovery depends on biomedical science, imaging, chemistry, animal models, and data analysis; no single researcher can do it alone.
The same is true of his galectin-12 project. His team is using AI to analyze protein structure, binding sites, and chemical properties, then predict the most promising inhibitors for laboratory testing.
AI does not invent drugs on its own. It narrows the search; scientists still ask the questions and judge the answers.
Homeward Bound, Minds Unbound
With the publication of over 400 original papers and review articles, which have been cited for a total of over 48,000 times, Liu’s work has earned international recognition.
Fu-Tong Liu receives Iran’s Khwarizmi International Award for pioneering galectin and immunology research
He was elected an Academia Sinica academician in 2012 and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2019.
At the height of his U.S. career, Liu accepted an invitation from then–Academia Sinica President Chi-Huey Wong to return to Taiwan in 2010 as director of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences.
He became vice president of Academia Sinica in 2016.
Fu-Tong Liu with his lab team at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Science
His mission grew beyond his own lab. He advanced glycoscience, immunology, translational medicine, and cross-disciplinary research, while helping strengthen Taiwan’s research infrastructure and biotechnology ecosystem.
These platforms rarely make headlines, but they form the foundation of drug discovery.
Without equipment, data, talent, and collaboration, even the best ideas may never leave the page.
In 2022, Liu returned to the United States and joined USC’s Department of Dermatology, continuing his work in research, patient care, and teaching.
To him, Taiwan and the United States are not competing choices, but connected hubs for talent, technology, and discovery.
Today, he leads an AI-driven search for galectin-12 inhibitors, mentors USC dermatology residents, and serves as a chair professor at universities in Taiwan—linking teams across the Pacific and passing knowledge to the next generation.
Father’s Light, Legacy Bright
Liu’s father, a former chair of veterinary medicine at National Taiwan University, devoted his career to animal disease and public health.
Growing up on the NTU campus, Liu inherited his scientific rigor—and his belief that research should protect lives.
His father studied animal disease; Liu explored human immunity and inflammation.
Their fields differed, but their purpose was the same: understand disease and use science to fight it.
During his father’s final illness, Liu returned from demanding medical training in the United States to visit him.
Barely able to move or speak, his father suddenly whispered his childhood name: “A-Tong.” Two syllables carried him through illness and time, back to childhood.
His father left more than a final call. He passed on a passion for knowledge and service—a light Liu now carries into USC and universities across Taiwan.
Chemistry never vanished when Liu entered immunology, nor did medicine replace basic science.
Each turn brought old knowledge to new questions; each crossing of fields carried him farther.
Liu often speaks of four guiding principles: passion, diversity, collaboration, and change.
Passion sustained four decades of discovery; diversity crossed disciplines; collaboration moved science toward treatment; change opened the unknown.
From building his career in America to strengthening Taiwan’s research foundation and mentoring across the Pacific, Liu has left more than awards.
He has built a bridge between laboratory and clinic—and a path for others to follow.
More than 40 years ago, an unexpected experiment opened the door to glycoscience.
Today, Liu stands at the crossroads of glycoscience and AI, searching for molecular keys to galectins.
The door remains open—because great breakthroughs often begin with the unexpected result someone refused to overlook.
Photos courtesy of Fu-Tong Liu