ESP Biography



FAN LIU, Biology Enthusiast, Lover of Learning




Major: Undecided

College/Employer: Stanford University

Year of Graduation: 2020

Picture of Fan Liu

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I'm Fan and currently a freshman at Stanford.

I like biology and the humanities. I taught a class at MIT HSSP previously on Innovations in Cancer Biology. I enjoy reading about different breakthroughs in science. I also conduct interdisciplinary biological/bioinformatics research in RNA structure and interactions at Stanford Medical School.

At Stanford, I'm a student in the Structured Liberal Education program, where we trace the course of Western thought in a year through discussion, lecture, and residential-based learning. I love learning about important ideas that have shaped our civilization.

I also really like cats, traveling to new places, flute music, Impressionism, and adventures.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

H10962: A Very Brief History of Western Philosophy in Splash 2016 (Nov. 19 - 20, 2016)
What is truth, and how has our understanding of truth developed over time? What has it meant to "live the examined life?" In this class we will explore important time periods and figures in Western philosophy: Socrates, Descartes, Sartre, just to name a few. We will examine and analyze the questions they have pondered throughout the ages, and how their search for a greater understanding of the universe has evolved to the questions we ask today. This course is intended for people with all backgrounds in philosophy and wish to explore philosophy in a historical context.


S10514: Innovations in Cancer Biology in HSSP Summer 2016 (Jul. 10, 2016)
Have you ever wondered how we could possibly cure cancer? It seems like a hopeless cause - the NIH invested over $4.8 billion in funding in 2013 alone - yet cancer still causes unnecessary suffering for so many people. This class will examine the six biological hallmarks of cancer (Hanahan et al 2011). The class will focus on current, cutting-edge therapies that hopefully can eradicate cancer such as immunotherapy, personalized medicine/genomics screening, nanoparticle delivery, and siRNAs/mRNAs. We will read popular science articles and discuss their scientific validity (aka fancy speak for "see if they’ll actually work"). We will also see how we can use computers through bioinformatics to mine for drug candidates. We will also have lectures from people who are currently working in the field of cancer biology. (this class was named after Bob Weinberg’s [professor at MIT] famous 850-page tome, The Biology of Cancer - you should totally check it out)