James C. Liao

James C. Liao
廖俊智
Official portrait, 2016
9th President of the Academia Sinica
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 June 2016
Appointed byTsai Ing-wen
Vice PresidentWang Fan-sen
Andrew H. J. Wang
Wang Yu
Chin-Shing Huang
Mei-Yin Chou
Fu-Tong Liu
Tang K. Tang
Preceded byWang Fan-sen (acting)
Personal details
Born1958 (age 66–67)
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
EducationNational Taiwan University (BS)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (PhD)
SpouseFu Chen
Scientific career
FieldsChemical engineering
InstitutionsEastman Kodak
Texas A&M University
University of California, Los Angeles
Academia Sinica
ThesisModelling of Biochemical Reaction Networks (1987)
Doctoral advisorEdwin N. Lightfoot

Liao Chun-Chih (Chinese: 廖俊智; born 1958), also known by his English name James Liao, is a Taiwanese-American chemist. He is the Parsons Foundation Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles,[1][2] and is the co-founder and lead scientific advisor of Easel Biotechnologies, LLC.[3] He was named the president of Academia Sinica, Taiwan, in June 2016.[4]

He is best known for his work in metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and bioenergy. Liao has been recognized for the biosynthesis and production of higher alcohols such as isobutanol from sugars, cellulose, waste protein, or carbon dioxide.

Early life and education

Liao holds both Taiwanese and American citizenship.[5] He was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1958 and was raised in Taipei. After graduating from National Taiwan University with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in chemical engineering in 1980, he completed military service in the Republic of China Armed Forces and pursued graduate studies in the United States at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1987 under chemical engineer Edwin N. Lightfoot, the co-author of Transport Phenomena, on a fellowship awarded by the National Institute of Health.[6] Liao's doctoral dissertation was titled, "Modelling of Biochemical Reaction Networks."[7]

Academic career

After receiving his doctorate, Liao worked as a research scientist for Eastman Kodak from 1987 to 1989. In 1990, he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University as an assistant professor and three years later he became an associate professor. In 1997, Liao became a professor for the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of California, Los Angeles.

Research

Liao's research[8] interests include biological synthesis of fuels and chemicals, carbon and nitrogen assimilation, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, transcriptional and metabolic networks analysis, fatty acid metabolism.

Protein based biofuels

Liao and his team are researching protein based biofuels which use proteins, rather than fats or carbohydrates, as a significant raw material for biorefining and biofuel production. The benefit of using protein is that the protein metabolism is much faster than fatty acid metabolism such as algae biofuels, which leads to higher production.[9]

Electrofuels

Liao's lab recently participated in the US Department of Energy's Electrofuels program. They proposed converting solar energy into liquid fuels such as isobutanol.[10] A new bioreactor could store electricity as liquid fuel with the help of a genetically engineered microbes and carbon dioxide. The isobutanol produced would have an energy density close to gasoline.[11]

Non-oxidative glycolysis

Liao has also worked on the creation of a non-oxidative glycolysis pathway.[12] Natural metabolic pathways degrade sugars in an oxidative way that loses 1/3 of the carbon to CO2 in fermentation. The Liao laboratory has developed a pathway, called Non-oxidative glycolysis (NOG), that allows 100% carbon conservation in various fermentation processes.

Awards and honors

Personal

Liao is originally from Taiwan. He is married to Kelly Liao and has two daughters, Carol and Clara Liao.

References

  1. ^ "James C. Liao — UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering". Archived from the original on 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  2. ^ "James C. Liao, Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology Laboratory".
  3. ^ "About | Easel Biotechnologies, LLC".
  4. ^ Chung, Jake (4 June 2016). "Liao named Academia Sinica head". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  5. ^ Tsao, Edward; Wu, Lilian (7 June 2016). "New Academia Sinica head ready to deal with problems". Central News Agency. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  6. ^ Viegas, Jennifer (2018-05-08). "Profile of James C. Liao". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (19): 4807–4809. doi:10.1073/pnas.1805586115. PMC 5949017. PMID 29686096.
  7. ^ "MODELLING OF BIOCHEMICAL REACTION NETWORKS - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  8. ^ "James C. Liao". Archived from the original on 2017-03-07. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  9. ^ "Newsroom".
  10. ^ Li, H.; Opgenorth, P. H.; Wernick, D. G.; Rogers, S.; Wu, T.-Y.; Higashide, W.; Malati, P.; Huo, Y.-X.; Cho, K. M.; Liao, J. C. (2012). "Integrated Electromicrobial Conversion of CO2 to Higher Alcohols". Science. 335 (6076): 1596. Bibcode:2012Sci...335.1596L. doi:10.1126/science.1217643. PMID 22461604. S2CID 24328552.
  11. ^ "Final Report | Second-Generation Isobutanol Producing Biocatalyst | Research Project Database | Grantee Research Project | ORD | US EPA". Archived from the original on August 1, 2010.
  12. ^ Bogorad, Igor W.; Lin, Tzu-Shyang; Liao, James C. (2013). "Synthetic non-oxidative glycolysis enables complete carbon conservation". Nature. 502 (7473): 693–697. Bibcode:2013Natur.502..693B. doi:10.1038/nature12575. PMID 24077099. S2CID 4465336.
  13. ^ Lin, Chia-nan (18 December 2019). "World science academy elects three Taiwanese". Taipei Times. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  14. ^ "James Liao".
  15. ^ "James C Liao receives NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science — UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  16. ^ "Professor James C. Liao".
  17. ^ "Liao Wins ENI Award for Renewable Energy Research — UCLA Engineering". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  18. ^ "Eni: Impresa dell'energia". 2017-01-12. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  19. ^ www.whitehouse.gov
  20. ^ "UCLA's James Liao receives Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from EPA — UCLA Engineering". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  21. ^ "James E. Bailey Award". 2012-06-07.
  22. ^ "Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research". 2012-03-28.
  23. ^ "BIOT Awards". Archived from the original on 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  24. ^ "Professor James Liao receives 2009 Marvin J. Johnson Award — UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering". Archived from the original on 2010-07-11. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  25. ^ http://www.simbhq.org/docs/PastAwardees2013.pdf
  26. ^ "Professor James Liao receives Merck Award — UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering". Archived from the original on 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  27. ^ "Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award in Chemical Engineering". 2012-03-28.
  28. ^ "James C. Liao, Ph.D. COF-0579 - AIMBE".
  29. ^ "James Liao - KNCV". Archived from the original on 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2014-09-23.


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