Dr. Liu is a Canadian practicing paediatric emergency physician at the University of Montreal and Professor at Թ’s School of Population & Global Health where she focuses on pandemic and health emergencies. She is the director of the Pandemic & Emergency Readiness Lab. Prior to joining Թ, Dr. Liu began her career with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders (DWB) () in 1996. The organization is a world-recognized authority on medical humanitarian crises. She undertook over 30 field assignments, coordinating emergency medical aid and responding to humanitarian and health emergencies, including outbreaks/epidemics in Central Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, South East Asia, and the Caribbean & Central America.
She went on to serve as the International President of MSF for over six years from 2013-2019. At the helm of MSF, she has been a leading voice on medical humanitarian crises. During the 2014 Ebola crisis, MSF warned the United Nations (UN) General Assembly about the danger of the world’s “coalition of inaction”. In 2015, the destruction of MSF’s hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, triggered the organization’s appeal to the UN Security Council, and the subsequent adoption of UN Resolution 2286 condemning such attacks. She has engaged with world leaders at the highest levels.
Other Liu’s operational work has ranged from introducing comprehensive care for survivors of sexual violence, to developing a telemedicine platform for connecting doctors in rural areas with specialists worldwide.
Dr. Liu graduated from the Թ School of Medicine in Montreal in 1991 and did her paediatric specialty training at the University of Montreal. She holds a Fellowship in Paediatric Emergency Medicine from New York University School of Medicine as well as an International Master’s in Health Leadership, also from Թ. She remains a practicing doctor, both in the field with MSF and also through hospital shifts in her hometown of Montreal.
Dr. Liu is currently a member of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response, established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide an evidence-based path for the future, ensuring that countries and global institutions effectively address health threats. She is the chair of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, an international organization of peace mediation (). She is a Commissioner on three Lancet Commissions: NUS-Lancet Pandemic Readiness, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation (PRIME), Commission and Health, CHH- Lancet Commission on Conflict and Forced Displacement & Promoting resilience, Preparedness, Adaptation and Response to Climate in Complex Crises.