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Social Network and Etiology of Infectious Diseases Laboratory

Exploring the Social and Behavioral Aspects of HIV/AIDS and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases

Red blood cell and disease cells

This research group focuses on social and behavioral aspects of HIV/AIDS, epidemiology of infectious diseases, and research methodology. Research expertise includes social and risk networks for HIV/STI infection, stigma, intervention, epidemic modeling, survey methodology (e.g., sampling hard-to-reach populations), and advanced analytical techniques (structural equation modeling, actor-partner interdependent modeling, and psychometric analysis).

Department: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Location: Atlantic Building
Director: Hongjie Liu

Office Phone Number: (301) 405-3102
Email: hliu1210@umd.edu

The research group uses the social network approach to study transmissions of infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS, STDs, and COVID-19), models the trend of an epidemic, selects optimal intervention strategies from modeling and empirical data, sample hard-to-research stigmatized populations, and analyze complicated behavioral data using advanced analytic approaches.

Dr. Hongjie Liu is a professor of epidemiology. He graduated from UCLA School of Public Health with a doctoral degree in epidemiology. His research focuses on social and behavioral aspects of HIV/AIDS, epidemiology of infectious diseases, and research methodology. His research expertise includes social and risk networks of disease transmissions, stigma, intervention, epidemic modeling, survey methodology (e.g., sampling hidden populations), and advanced analytical techniques (structural equation modeling, actor-partner interdependent modeling, and psychometric assessment).

Dr. Liu has been actively and productively involved in research activities. Since 1997, he has participated, as a PI, Co-PI, or consultant, in 13 HIV-related studies in China, 12 studies in the US, and 2 in Nigeria. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (as PI on R03, R21, and R01 grants), National Science Foundation (NSF), the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), the UCLA AIDS Institute, and other agencies. The amount of his NIH research award money was ranked the 15th among all UMD faculty in 2014. So far, Dr. Liu has authored a total of 119 peer-reviewed papers, including 100 publications (h-index: 35/i10-index: 77) in English journals and 19 in Chinese journals. In recent years, Dr. Liu has trained 15 student researchers and 7 post-doc and junior researchers in this group.

Selected grants:

  1. EAGER: Protecting University Communities from COVID-19 with Model-based Risk Management (NSF, Co-PI)
  2. Building TRUST: Investigation of high-risk men who have sex with men in Nigeria (NIH R01, Co-I)
  3. Social network and sexual risk for HIV/STIs among older female sex workers (NIH R01, PI)
  4. Multi-component Intervention Packages for Chinese MSM (NIH R01, Co-I)
  5. Mediation Effect of Network Function on Transition to Injection Drug Use (NIH R21, PI)

Selected publications:

  1. Liu H, Chen C, Cruz-Cano R, Guida JL, Lee M. Public Compliance With Social Distancing Measures and SARS-CoV-2 Spread: A Quantitative Analysis of 5 States. Public Health Rep. 2021;136(4):475-482.
  2. Li Y, Slopen N, Sweet T, Nguyen Q, Beck K, Liu H. Stigma in a Collectivistic Culture: Social Network of Female Sex Workers in China. AIDS and Behavior. 2021 Jul 24 Epub ahead of print PMID: 34312739
  3. Guida JL, Holt CL, Dallal CM, He X, Gold R, Liu H. Social Relationships and Functional Impairment in Aging Cancer Survivors: A Longitudinal Social Network Study. The Gerontologist,2019;60(4)607-616.
  4. Li Y, Liu H, Ramadhani HO, Ndembi N, Crowell TA, Kijak G, Robb ML, Ake JA, Kokogho A, Nowak RG, Gaydos C, Baral SD, Volz E, Tovanabutra S, Charurat M, TRUST/RV368 Study Group. Genetic Clustering Analysis for HIV Infection among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Nigeria: implications for intervention. AIDS,2019;34(2):227-236
  5. Guida J, Fukunaga A, Liu H. Biomarker validation of self-reported sex among middle-aged female sex workers in China. Annals of Epidemiology, 2017;27(3):181-186.