Her current research interests fall in the general areas of machine learning algorithm development and machine learning applications in human and animal healthcare, food systems, and communication networks. Her research on networking includes cellular networks, cognitive radio networks, wireless sensor networks, network information theory, network security, and IoT systems.

Prof. Liu is an IEEE Fellow. She received the Computer Networks Journal Best Paper of Year award in 2003 for her work on opportunistic scheduling. In 2005, she received the NSF CAREER award for her research on Smart-Radio-Technology-Enabled Opportunistic Spectrum Utilization. She received the Outstanding Engineering Junior Faculty Award from the College of Engineering, University of California, Davis in 2005. She became a Chancellor's Fellow in 2011. She is a co-PI and AI cluster co-lead for the $20M AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems.