Xinxue Liu
Associate Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology
Xinxue Liu is an Associate Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford, and Head of Statistics in Clinical Trials at the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG). He provides statistical leadership for vaccine clinical trials while developing innovative methodology for the design and analysis of vaccine studies.
Xinxue trained in epidemiology and biostatistics at Peking University and the University of Cambridge. After research appointments at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, he joined the Oxford Vaccine Group in 2018 as its first dedicated statistician. He has since established and leads the OVG Statistics and Epidemiology Group, growing it into a multidisciplinary team of around 15 quantitative researchers that supports the design, analysis and delivery of the group's internationally recognised vaccine clinical trials.
His research focuses on two main complementary areas. The first is the development and evaluation of vaccines against enteric fever, with a particular emphasis on accelerating vaccines for typhoid and paratyphoid through international clinical trials, immune correlates of protection, and evidence to inform global vaccination policy. The second is methodological research in vaccine clinical trials, developing statistical approaches to improve trial design, vaccine efficacy evaluation, immunogenicity analyses, and the assessment of long-term protection.
Xinxue has contributed to major international vaccine trials, including the Oxford-led Com-COV1-3 and COV-BOOST COVID-19 studies, as well as trials of vaccines against enteric fever, RSV, meningococcal disease, pertussis and invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella infections.
Xinxue's expertise is recognised internationally through his appointments to the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working Group on Typhoid and the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Salmonella Vaccines. He also serves on independent Data and Safety Monitoring Boards for international vaccine trials, helping to guide vaccine development and evidence-based immunisation policy.
Recent publications
8-year vaccine protection following a single dose of Vi-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine in children in Nepal (TyVOID): a prospective cohort follow-up study of the TyVAC Nepal randomised controlled trial.
Journal article
Pant D. et al, (2027), Lancet Glob Health
Impact of dosing interval on immunogenicity following a heterologous typhoid conjugate vaccine booster in Nepalese children: an observational study.
Journal article
Zhang Y. et al, (2026), J Infect
COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and SARS-CoV-2 variants in Nepal: Test-negative case-control study and genetic sequencing (COVVAR Nepal)
Journal article
Pokhrel B. et al, (2026), Vaccine X, 31
Typhoid Seroepidemiology for TCV Decision‑Making Meeting Report of the 18 July 2025 Expert Consultation
Preprint
Laurens M. et al, (2026)