"Innovations in microfluidic lab-on-a-chip and nanotechnology for point-of-care bioanalysis."

Prof. XiuJun (James) Li 

University of Texas at El Paso

Co-Hosts: Dr. Robbyn Anand and Dr. Theresa Windus

Abstract: TBA

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,  biomedical engineering, forensic science, biomaterial, 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, AAFS, UT System, Philadelphia Foundation, 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 more than 126 journal publications and 26 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, Nano Futures, Future Science OA, Journal of Analysis and Testing, etc, and an Advisory Board member of Lab on a Chip and Analyst. He is the recipient of the 2025 R&I Innovation Award -Established Innovator, the “Bioanalysis New Investigator Award” in 2014, UT STARS Award in 2012, NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow Award in 2009, 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. In 2024, he was Named World's Top Researchers by Elsevier (2% of the most cited researchers) and Top Scholar by ScholarGPS (Ranked #33 in Microfluidics in recent 5 years).