Ren Liu, PhD is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Science Statistics at the University of California, Merced. His work centers on the development and application of advanced statistical and measurement methods to improve how complex human performance, behavior, and adaptation are quantified in applied settings.
Ren specializes in psychometrics, latent variable modeling, and decision science, with a focus on building reliable, interpretable measurement systems that translate complex data into actionable insights for practitioners. His research emphasizes methodological rigor while maintaining direct relevance to real-world performance contexts, including fatigue, psychological adaptation, individual differences, and training response.
He currently serves as Statistical Editor for the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine and as an Editorial Board Member for BMC Medical Research Methodology. His contributions to the field have been recognized with the Rising Star designation from the Association for Psychological Science.
Beyond methodological research, Ren actively collaborates on interdisciplinary applied projects spanning substance use, self-injury, criminal justice populations, neurodiverse groups (including ADHD), LGBTQ+ communities, and developmental studies of motivation and altruism. Across these domains, his role is to ensure that measurement, inference, and data-driven conclusions meaningfully inform practice rather than remain confined to theory.
Previously, Ren worked with large-scale assessment and performance organizations including the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), and he has held leadership roles within the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).