Alan Liu

Dr. Liu is the Director of the Virtual Medical Environments Laboratory at the National Capital Area Medical Simulation Center (SimCen) of the Uniformed Services University (USUHS). He is involved in defining the SimCen's strategic research goals, and directing the development of the SimCen's computer-based medical training systems. Dr. Liu is the principal developer of the SimCen's  pericardiocentesis and diagnostic peritoneal lavage simulators. They are the world's first computer-based trainers for these procedures. These simulators were used in the nation's first Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course conducted without animals or cadavers. Dr. Liu is also the principal architect for the SimCen's Wide Area Virtual Environment (WAVE), a 10,000 sq. ft. total immersion virtual environment for mass casualty training, with applications in military medical readiness, and homeland defense.   Dr. Liu's current research interests involve use of the WAVE to investigate team learning and human performance under conditions of stress.