Spring 2025 Seminar Series
Seminars are Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. in the Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center, and are sponsored by CBE, BME, and NSME. Topical seminars are scheduled throughout the semester and can be used for seminar credit.
January 22, 2025
Innovations in microfluidic systems and nanotechnology for biomedical applications
Xiujun James Li, University of Texas at El Paso
4:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center
Abstract: Recently, fast-growing microfluidic lab-on-a-chip and nanotechnology have caused significant impacts on various disciplines including modern analytical chemistry. Herein, I will highlight several paper/polymer hybrid microfluidic devices and nano-biosensing technology that we recently developed for biochemical and environmental analysis, with a focus on low-cost disease diagnosis, especially for resource-poor settings. Difference chip substrates have different advantages as well as limitations. Paper/polymer hybrid microfluidic devices can draw more benefits from both substrates. We for the first time developed a low-cost photothermal biosensing method for quantitative biochemical analysis using a common thermometer. Integrated graphene oxide nano-biosensors, on-chip DNA amplification, and nanoparticle-mediated photothermal immunosensing will also be introduced toward their applications in point-of-care infectious disease diagnosis and cancer biomarker detection.
Bio: XiuJun (James) Li, Ph.D., is a Full Professor with early tenure in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), USA. He is also the Director of Forensic Science Program at UTEP. After he obtained his Ph.D. degree in microfluidic lab-on-a-chip bioanalysis from Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Canada in 2008, he pursued his postdoctoral research with Prof. Richard Mathies at University of California Berkeley and Prof. George Whitesides at Harvard University, while holding a Postdoctoral Fellowship from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. Dr. Li’s current research interest is centered on the development of innovative microfluidic lab-on-a-chip and nanotechnology for bioanalysis, biomaterial, biomedical engineering, and environmental applications, including but not limited to low-cost diagnosis, pathogen detection, nano-biosensing, genetic analysis, 3D cell culture, tissue engineering, and single-cell analysis, supported by NIH, NSF, CPRIT, DOT, UT System, Philadelphia Foundation, AAFS, and MCA Foundation multiple funding agencies. His lab has extensive experience in point-of-care detection. He pioneered the novel concept of paper/polymer hybrid microfluidic devices; he, for the first time, developed photothermal biosensors for low-cost quantitative analysis using a common thermometer.
Dr. Li has coauthored about 123 scientific publications and 24 patents, including three books from Elsevier on microfluidic devices for biomedical applications. He is an Editorial Board member of multiple journals including Microsystems & Nanoengineering and Scientific Reports from the Nature Publishing Group, Micromachines, Future Science OA, Journal of Analysis and Testing, etc, and an Advisory Board member of Lab on a Chip, Analyst and Sensors & Diagnostics. He is the recipient of the “Bioanalysis New Investigator Award” in 2014, UT STARS Award in 2012, NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow Award in 2009, Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Graduate Student Abroad (2004), Outstanding Faculty Dissertation Research Mentoring Award (2016 & 2018, twice), NIH BUILDING Scholar Mentoring Award for Excellence in Student Research Mentoring in 2017, and so on.
