Browse School of Medicine | Stanford Profiles

BioDr. Liu is a board-certified, fellowship-trained specialist in allergy/immunology and infectious disease. She is also a clinical associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Liu treats infections in patients with compromised immune systems, whether due to a primary immune deficiency or a condition like cancer or organ transplant. She helps patients to develop tolerance to medications they are allergic to so that they can receive the best, and sometimes the only, treatments available to them. She also treats allergies to antibiotics, aspirin, NSAIDs, chemotherapy, and more. She sees patients both long term and for urgent referrals, such as in cases of perioperative anaphylaxis. Dr. Liu also helps pediatric patients manage drug and food allergies.

One of Dr. Liu’s areas of focus is helping patients with allergies to antibiotics determine when they have lost an allergy, what antibiotics they can tolerate, and when to induce tolerance to an antibiotic. This not only can benefit the patient, but also have a positive public health impact, as labeling patients with a penicillin allergy may negatively affect their care and increase use
of broad-spectrum antibiotics.

She collaborates closely with colleagues from other disciplines, including pulmonology, otolaryngology, oncology, cardiology, dermatology, anesthesiology, and surgery. Her key objective in working with referring physicians is to help them safely deliver the best care for their patients.

For patients and families, Dr. Liu strives to help them navigate their care journey with as much ease and dignity as possible during what may be the most challenging time of their life. Her goal is to offer patients options, even when it may appear that they have no options left.

Dr. Liu’s research interests include optimizing care of patients with antibiotic allergies, including through use of decision support tools.

Dr. Liu has authored articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Immunology, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Practice, Clinical and Experimental Allergy, Mucosal Immunology, Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease, Science, and other publications. Dr. Liu authored the book chapter “Hypersensitivity Reactions to Monoclonal Antibodies” in Drug Allergy Testing.

Dr. Liu is certified in infectious disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine and in allergy and immunology by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. She is also a member of the American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America, and American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

She has given presentations on antibiotic allergies, drug desensitization, and aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease, among other topics. Dr. Liu’s honors include recognition from the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, the American Medical Women’s Association, and the National Institutes of Health.