Dr. Jufen Liu lead her research team aims to develop scientific knowledge that uses life course and social epidemiology, multiple longitudinal cohorts, interdisciplinary, integrated and systems approaches to address future health challenges and the impact of environmental factors, including social environment, nutrition on health and development across the life course. Dr. Liu has a broad interest in birth defects and disability, focusing on neurodevelopmental disorders, degenerative diseases, chronic diseases and multi-morbidities at all ages. She led the research to investigate the early life determinants and trajectories of chronic diseases, study clusters of conditions and the interactions between their trajectories throughout the life course, through which to develop population level interventions to prevent chronic diseases and multimorbidity, as well as to support translation of discovery into policy and practice both within in China and in the global community. Dr. Liu has led on original research articles and her publications are featured in journals such as International Journal of Epidemiology, eClinicalMedicine, Social Science and Medicine, Globalization and Health, General Psychiatry, Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine, and so forth. Their findings have provided policy consultation reports to national ministries such as the health and environmental protection departments. Her research has been recognized with awards from Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Assiociation, Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, Beijing Preventive Medicine Association and Ministry of Education. Dr. Liu developed and lead the course for graduate and undergraduate students (Frontiers of Population Health Science, Epidemiology of Disabilities, Social Epidemiology and Its Applications). Dr. Liu is an associate editor of textbooks "Epidemiology of Disabilities" and key editorial board member of "Prevention and Control of Disabilities: Basic Knowledge and Methods".Additionally, Dr Liu served as various contribution to scientific communities, she is a standing committee member of the China Maternal and Child Health Association's Professional Committee on Perinatology and Metabolism; a member of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association's Professional Committee on Birth Defects Prevention and Control, and the Committee on Family-School-Community Education of the Chinese Family Education Society. She is also served in the editorial boards of several academic journals, including Reproductive Health (Deputy Editor), BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (Editorial Board Member), China CDC Weekly (Guest Editor), Frontiers in Nutrition (Guest Editor), Nutrients (Guest Editor), and China Journal of Reproductive Health (Editor).

Neurosciences: Development, Disorders and Degeneration of Nervous System
Lifelong Health: Reproductive, Maternal Health and Early Origins of Health, Ageing

1. National Key Research and Development Program, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China, 2025YFC2511501, Construction of a precise diagnosis and treatment system for neural tube defects throughout the entire disease cycle based on functional protection and reconstruction, and research and development of key technologies. 09/2025-12/2028，200, 000 RMB, Subproject Leader/Core member, Ongoing

2. Key Project of Regional Innovative Development Joint Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China, U23A20420, Research on Important Susceptibility Factors, Pathogenic Mechanisms, and Early Intervention Strategies of Folate Non-Responsive Neural Tube Defects, 01/2024-12/2028, 416,000 RMB, Subproject Leader/Core member, Ongoing

3. National Key Research and Development Program of Ministry of Science and Technology, 2022YFC2705205, Establishment of Early Diagnosis, Intervention, and Early Warning System for Common Developmental Behavioral Disorders in Children, 01/2022-12/2025, 600,000 RMB, Core member, Completed

4. Major Project of National Social Science Foundation, 21&ZD187, Study on Disability Prevention Strategies and Applications under the Background of Population Aging, 01/2022-12/2025, 600,000 RMB, Core member, Completed

5. National Key Research and Development Program of Ministry of Science and Technology, 2021YFC2701101, Systematic Identification of Pathogenic Mutations in Major Birth Defects, 01/2021-12/2024, 1,000,000 RMB, Core member, Completed

6. Clinical Medicine Plus X - Young Scholars Project, Peking University, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, PKU2025PKULCXQ010, Study on the Role and Mechanism of Inositol Imbalance and Endoplasmic reticulum Stress in Ovarian Reserve Function Reduction, 05/2025-12/2025，125,000 RMB，Principal Investigator, Completed

7. China Nutrition Society Nutrition Research Fund, CNS-ZD2020-115, Study on the Influence of Multiple Vitamin Supplementation on Gestational Diabetes and Its Immunological Mechanisms, 01/2021-12/2022, 190,000 RMB, Principal Investigator, Completed

8. Beijing Disabled Persons' Federation, Research on Early Retirement Policy among Persons with Disability in Beijing, 12/2016-06/2017，120,000 RMB，Principal Investigator, Completed

9. Natural Resources Conservation Association, Total Coal Consumption Control Programs and Policy Research, Study on Environmental Pollution and Fertility Damage and Adverse Outcomes, 06/2015-12/2015，125,000 RMB，Principal Investigator, Completed

10. National Natural Science Foundation of China, 81202265, Study on the Correlation between COMT and MTHFR Gene Polymorphisms and Plasma Protein Expression and Neural Tube Defects, 01/2013-12/2015, 230,000 RMB, Principal Investigator, Completed

1. Liu J, Li Z, Ye R, Ren A, Liu J. Folic acid supplementation and risk for congenital limb reduction defects in China. Int J Epidemiol. 2019, Dec 1;48(6):2010-2017. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyz130.

2. Liu J, Li Z, Ye R, Ren A, Liu J. Folic acid supplementation and risk for congenital hydrocephalus in China. Public Health Nutr. 2021 Sep;24(13):4238-4244. doi: 10.1017/S136898002100029X.   

3. Wang D, Song Z, Zhang Y, Zhang L, Jin L, Ren A, Li Z, Liu J*. Prevalence and Trends of Birth Defects - Five Counties, Shanxi Province, China, 2003-2022. China CDC Wkly. 2023 Sep 8;5(36):797-802. doi: 10.46234/ccdcw2023.153.

4. Ren Z, Xu Y, Sun J, Han Y, An L, Liu J*. Chronic diseases and multimorbidity patterns, their recent onset, and risk of new-onset Parkinson’s disease and related functional degeneration in older adults: a prospective cohort study. eClinicalMedicine 2023 Oct 6; 65:102265. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.10226.

5. Du Y, Luo Y, Zheng X, Liu J*. Number of children and cognitive function among Chinese menopausal women: The mediating role of depressive symptoms and social participation. J Affect Disord. 2023 Nov 1;340:758-765. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.084.

6. Ren Z, Xia S, Sun J, Wang D, Du Y, Li N, Liu J*. Internet use, cardiometabolic multimorbidity, and death in older adults: a multi-cohort study spanning developing and developed countries. Global Health. 2023 Nov 6;19(1):81. doi: 10.1186/s12992-023-00984-z.

7. Ren Z, Du Y, Lian X, Luo Y, Zheng X, Liu J*. Bidirectional longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and somatic conditions after adverse childhood experiences in middle-aged and older Chinese: a causal mediation analysis. Soc Sci Med. 2023 Dec 1;338: 116346. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116346.

8. Ren Z, NieL, Du Y, Liu J*. Intertwined depressive and cognitive trajectories and the risk of dementia and death in older adults: a competing risk analysis.Gen Psychiatr. 2024;Apr 9;37(2):e101156. doi:10.1136/gpsych-2023-101156.

9. Ren Z, Nie L, Sun Y, Wu Y, Wang L*, Liu J*. Life-course leisure-time physical activity benefits cognitive health through decelerating epigenetic ageing acceleration: results from a large prospective cohort study. Age Ageing. 2025 Aug 29;54(10):afaf317. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaf317.

10. Cheng X#, Meng C#, Galea GL#, Nie L, Wang D, Xia S, Wei Y*, Liu J*, Li Z. Trends of neural tube defects in urban China and effects of socio-demographic factors, 2013-2022: a descriptive analysis. BMJ Public Health. 2025 Jul 16;3(2):e001489. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001489.