Esther Liu, PhD

Dr. Liu joined the Division of Biostatistics in November 2009 as a research instructor of biostatistics. She received her B.Sc in scientific computing and applied software at the Department of Mathematics of NanKai University in 1997, her M.Sc in financial mathematics from National University of Singapore in 2002 and a PhD in biostatistics from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2007. After graduating from the Medical College of Wisconsin, she worked as a lead statistician at the Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) Inc. from 2007 to 2009. Since joining Washington University, Dr. Liu has focused her efforts in statistical support for both the ICTS and the Siteman Cancer Center.
 
Teaching experience
During her master study at National University of Singapore, Dr. Liu taught a couple of courses as a graduate assistant in the Department of Mathematics.
 
Related research
Dr. Liu’s research interests include propensity score methodology, survival data analysis, study design in clinical trials and missing data methods. She is also interested in cost-effective analysis and methodological issues in observational studies. The specific goal of her PhD dissertation was to study a treatment effect of time-to-event data using propensity score in observational studies. She was involved in many projects from small to large size and provided statistical consulting on Phase I-IV clinical trials across different functional departments at the Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) Inc., which has ensured meeting the regulatory demands of FDA and submission deadlines of pharmaceutical companies. She is a member of the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS) Research Design and Biostatistics Group (RDBG) and is currently providing statistical support for the projects of the Siteman Cancer Center and the ICTS.