Center for
Global Health

Scholar

Languages: Chinese (native), English (fluent), Japanese (fluent)

Bio statement

Dr. Liu is a physician-scientist and Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Neurology at Perelman School of Medicine. He is the current co-Chair of the World Stroke Organization Taskforce for Prehospital Care (WSOTPC). One of Dr Liu’s primary interests is to reduce prehospital delays for stroke victims world-wide by working with a global multi-disciplinary team. After successfully implementing his novel Stroke education strategy, Stroke 120 in China, in conjunction with Dr. Jing Zhao, a neurologist at Fudan University in Shanghai, Dr. Liu and his multi-disciplinary team also created Stroke 112 for other non-English speaking countries and regions. These educational strategies, based on the English program, FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time), for rapid stroke recognition and action, are currently being implemented in several countries or regions where English is not the primary language. Dr. Liu was appointed as Director of the Stroke 120 Special Task Force by the Chinese Stroke Association in 2017. Dr Liu is a current China Research Engagement Fund ($100K) recipient to promote and study Stroke 120 in China. If you are interested in joining his multi-disciplinary team in reducing pre-hospital delays for stroke victims worldwide, please email him at:  liur@uhps.upenn.edu. 

Dr. Liu's Wake Up Stroke 120 won 2 awards at New York City International Film Festival, taking home Best Short Narrative Film and the Humanitarian Award. Wake Up Stroke 120 is a 10-minute educational movie that documents the tragic results of delayed medical attention for stroke. Dr. Renyu Liu was recently appointed as co-chair for the World Stroke Organization task force on Prehospital Care. 

Dr Liu has worked with Rosemary Polomano, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Joshua Atkins, MD, PhD, on a joint Penn Nursing and Medicine collaboration to improve post-surgical Pain management in China with funding support from the Penn Global. 

Recent global health projects

1) To use Stroke 120 to improve stroke awareness in China
2) To Improve Stroke Care in Africa Countries

Selected publications

Yuan J, Li M, Liu Y, Xiong X, Zhu Z, Liu F, Wang Y, Hu W, Lu ZK, Liu R, Zhao J. Analysis of Time to the Hospital and Ambulance Use Following a Stroke Community Education Intervention in China. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 May 2;5(5):e2212674. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.12674. PMID: 35579896; PMCID: PMC9115614.

Melifonwu R, Onwuekwe I, Zhao J, Liu R. Prehospital stroke care in Africa: The reality and potential solutions. CNS Neurosci Ther. 2023 Jan;29(1):5-7. doi: 10.1111/cns.14005. Epub 2022 Nov 1. PMID: 36317707; PMCID: PMC9804051.

Zhao J, Yuan J, Lu K, Rudd A, Liu R. Why we should raise stroke awareness in the younger population? CNS Neurosci Ther. 2023 Mar;29(3):757-759. doi: 10.1111/cns.14067. Epub 2023 Jan 11. PMID: 36628543; PMCID: PMC9928542.

Zhao J, Eckenhoff MF, Sun WZ, Liu R. Stroke 112: A Universal Stroke Awareness Program to Reduce Language and Response Barriers. Stroke. 2018 Jul;49(7):1766-1769. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.118.021729. Epub 2018 Jun 20. PMID: 29925649; PMCID: PMC6034704.

Wang Y, Liu Y, Liu R, Zhao J. Cluster-randomised controlled trial of Stroke 1-2-0 education programme to reduce stroke prehospital delay in China: a study protocol. BMJ Open. 2021 May 25;11(5):e048064. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048064. PMID: 34035108; PMCID: PMC8154964.

Liu R, Zhao J, Li X, Messe S, Fisher M, Rudd A. To use stroke 911 to improve stroke awareness for countries where 911 is used as an emergency phone number. CNS Neurosci Ther. 2022 Oct;28(10):1473-1475. doi: 10.1111/cns.13931. Epub 2022 Aug 4. PMID: 35924380; PMCID: PMC9437232.

Zhao J, Liu R. Stroke 1-2-0: a rapid response programme for stroke in China. Lancet Neurol (2017) Jan;16(1):27-28. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(16)30283-6. 

Zhao J, Liu R. Stroke 1-2-0: The strategy and video release (2017). Transl Perioper Pain Med. 2017; 2(2):1-2.

Zhao J. Eckenhoff MF, Sun Wei-Zen, Liu R. A Universal Stroke Awareness Program to Reduce Language and Response Barriers. Stroke 2018; doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.118.021729

Last Updated: 27 November 2023