Dr. Li Research Group

Welcome to the Li Microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip & Nanotechnology group for Bioanalysis, and Biomedical, Environmental & Catalysis Applications at UTEP.

Our mission is to develop state-of-the-art microfluidic and nanotechnology for cutting-edge research in analytical chemistry, biological science, biomedical engineering, environmental and catalysis science and engineering.

We welcome talented individuals to join the group for innovative discovery in a multidisciplinary research environment.

Call for papers: Guest Editor (w/ Dr. Manabu Tokeshi), Micromachines, 2020, Special issue “Feature Paper in Chemistry” , open for submission now.
Two new postdoc positins available: (one for POC cancer biomarker detection using nanotechnology, and the other one for POC infectious disease study using microfluidic biochips): if you are interested, please send your CV to Dr. Li.

10/04/2021: Dr. Li was highlighted by UTEP HeadNews (UTEP Web Banner). "Researchers on track to move biomedical device from lab to marketplace". https://www.utep.edu/newsfeed/campus/researchers-on-track-to-move-biomedical-device-from-lab-to-marketplace.html?HomeBanner or check Local copy.
10/15/2021: Dr. Li gave a special seminar at UTEP, and also dedicated this presentation to the memory of Dr. Natalicio (1939-2021).
09/13/2021: A new collaborated paper regarding smartphone-based assay has been accepted by Chinese Chemical Letters for publication. "Zhang, X.; Wang, L.; Li, X. C.;* Li, X.,* AuNP aggregation-induced quantitative colorimetric aptasensing of sulfadimethoxine with a smartphone. Chin Chem Lett 2021, In Press. (IF 6.8)"
08/31/2021: Dr. Li is featured in The Prospector. https://www.theprospectordaily.com/2021/08/31/utep-receives-portion-of-grant-for-cancer-research/ . or Local copy.
08/28/2021: Dr. Li is selected as Chair – Elect of ACS (American Chemical Society) Rio Grande Valley Chapel.
08/18/2021: Dr. Li (Dr. Robert Kirken, Co-PI) received a prestigious CPRIT grant award (Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas) for ovarian cancer study.
08/05/2021: The 2nd edition of the book "Microfluidic Devices for Biomedical Applications" that Dr. Li editted has been officially published, with updated contents, new chapters, and new features potentially for textbooks.
07/28/2021: Our recent review article is selected as a Hot article by Lab on a Chip. "Recent innovations in cost-effective polymer and paper hybrid microfluidic devices".
07/08/2021: Dr. Li is organising an approved Pittcon Symposium 2022 regarding nano-sensing.
07/07/2021: Dr. Li is organising an approved Pittcon Symposium 2022 regarding infectious disease detection.
07/04/2021: A new paper regarding quantitative colorimetric aptasensing was submitted for publication.
06/30/2021: Dr. Li received a grant award from UT System for ACUE Course in Effective Teaching Practice.
06/18/2021: An invited paper has been accepted to publish by Lab Chip. Congrats to Wan, Maowei, Sanjay et al! "Zhou, W.;+ Dou, M.;+ Sanjay, S. T.;+ Xu, F.;* Li, X.* Recent innovations in cost-effective polymer and paper hybrid microfluidic devices, Lab Chip 2021, In Press. (Invited)."
06/11/2021: We officially received another major NSF grant to develop simple devices for detection of multiple infectious disease pathogens. Cheers!
05/04/2021: A new paper regarding photothermal bar-chart chip has been accepted by Anal. Chem. Congrats to Wan et al! "Zhou, W.;+ Fu, G.;+ Li, X.*; Detector-free photothermal bar-chart microfluidic chips (PT-Chips) for visual quantitative detection of biomarkers, Anal Chem 2021, In Press."
-This is also the 100th publication in our group! Well done, and thanks to all team members!
04/30/2021: Dr. Li was selected a panelist to present in Biomedical Day.
04/18/2021: A new paper regarding multicolorimetric biosensors has been accepted for publication by Anal Bioanal Chem. "Ma, L.; Abugalyon, Y.; Li, X. Multicolorimetric ELISA Biosensors on a Paper/Polymer Hybrid Analytical Device for Visual Point-of-Care Detection of Infection Diseases, Anal Bioanal Chem 2021, In Press."
03/22/2021: A new patent received notice of allowance. Congrats to Wan et al. "ONE-STEP SURFACE MODIFICATION TO GRAFT DNA CODES ON PAPER AND ITS BIO-APPLICATIONS”, U.S. Patent (#15/826,072)."
2/28/2021: A new manuscript regarding photothermal bar-chart chip was submitted for publication. DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.14131514.v14131511.
02/10/2021: A new patent received notice of allowance. Congrats to Sanjay et al. "Apparatuses and Methods for Pathogen Detection Using Microfluidic Biochips”, U.S. Patent (#15/555,002). "
02/07/2021: Our group received a new NSF I-Corps grant to support translational development of our invention in thermometer-based biomarker detection.
02/06/2021: Lei received prestigious Keelung Hong Graduate Research Fellowship. Students selected for this fellowship can receive up to one years of annual stipend ($24,000) and $1,000 per year for travel to scientific meetings, dependent on satisfactory progress. Congratulations to Lei! Well done. Also thanks to the support from the Department and Dr. Keelung Hong.
01/26/2021: A new patent received notice of allowance. Congrats to Sanjay et al. "US Application 15/454,200 entitled SENSITIVE ELISA FOR DISEASE DIAGNOSIS ON SURFACE MODIFIED POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE) (PMMA) MICROFLUIDIC MICROPLATES".
01/15/2021: We received a new grant from DOT and Texas A&M for study of COVID-19 to improve transportation safety.
12/27/2020: A new paper regarding MOFs for biosensing has been accepted by Biosens & Bioelectron. Congrats to Xia et al. "Lv, M.; Zhou, W.; Tavakoli, H.; Bautista, C.; Xia, J.;* Wang, Z.; Li, X.* Aptamer-functionalized Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for biosensing, Biosens Bioelectron 2021, In Press."
12/18/2020: A new ESE Ph.D. student joined our group (co-supervised with Dr. Ahmed). Welcome, Yohannes!
12/09/2020: A new US patent is granted. "X.J. Li*, M. Dou, D.C. Dominguez, “Methods and compositions for paper-based and hybrid microfluidic devices integrated with nucleic acid amplification for disease diagnosis”, US patent (#US14/796,127). Filed on July 10, 2015; -Granted on 12/29/2020. US Patent # 10,875,024 "
11/24/2020: A new provisional patent application regarding cancer therapy was submitted.
11/11/2020: GRE is not required for Graduate school admission application. Welcome to apply.
11/07/2020: A new manuscript regarding MOFs-based biosensing has been submitted for publication.
11/04/2020: Congratulations to Wan for her successful final Ph.D. Dissertation Defense in Cloud! Well done, All the best to the next step!
10/11/2020: Dr. Li has been invited to serve on Editorial Board of Journal of Analysis and Testing.
10/06/2020: A new paper regarding photothermal genetic detection of pathogen has been accepted for publication by Anal Chem. "Zhou, W.; Sun, J.; Li, X.* Low-Cost Quantitative Photothermal Genetic Detection of Pathogens on a Paper Hybrid Device Using a Thermometer, Anal Chem 2020, Accepted." Congrats, Wan et al!
10/05/2020: A new provisional patent application regarding photothermal genetic analysis was filed.
08/28/2020: A new patent is beging granted. "X.J. Li*, M. Dou, D.C. Dominguez, “Methods and compositions for paper-based and hybrid microfluidic devices integrated with nucleic acid amplification for disease diagnosis”, US patent (#US14/796,127). Filed on July 10, 2015"
08/19/2020: Cynthis won a poster award in the recent COURI summer symposium for undergraduate students. Congrats, Cynthia!
07/14/2020: A book chapter regarding low-cost disease diagnosis was submitted for publication.
07/11/2020: A new manuscript regarding photothermal studies was submitted for publication.
06/14/2020： Our recent work published in Anal Chem regarding one-step surface modification to graft DNA code on paper is highlighted by X-Mol. Link 1; Link 2. Local Download.
06/08/2020: A new paper regarding using nanomaterials to amplify colorimetric signals is accepted for publication by Analyst. "Prasad, K.S.; Abugalyon, Y.; Li, C.; Xu, F.; Li, X.* New method to amplify colorimetric signals of paper-based nanobiosensors for simple & sensitive pancreatic cancer biomarker detection, Analyst 2020, In Press." Congrats to Prasad et al!
05/13/2020: A new paper regarding photothermal microfluidic pumping has been accepted for publication by Lab Chip. Congrats to Guanglei and Wan et al! "Fu, G.;⁺ Zhou, W.;⁺ Li, X.* Remotely tunable microfluidic platform driven by nanomaterial-mediated on-demand photothermal pumping, Lab Chip 2020, In Press. DOI: 10.1039/D0LC00317D."
05/05/2020: A new patent about hemoglobin A1C and glucose detction is granted. "XiuJun Li*, Gilberto Henao-Pabon, “Devices and methods using modified paper electrodes for the detection of hemoglobin A1C and glucose”, U.S. Patent (#15/276,408). Filed on September 26, 2016.
-Granted on 5/5/2020. US Patent #: 10,640,801. "
05/07/2020: Congrats to Yousef for receiving Academic and Research Excellence Award for Undergraduate Student in Chemistry. Well done, Yousef! He has received an offer to go to Texas A&M for graduate study.
04/14/2020: A new US patent is granted. Congrats to Maowei et al! "Xiujun Li,* Maowei Dou, "Methods and compositions for hybrid microfluidic devices integrated with nano-biosensors", US patent (#US14/725, 689). Filed on May 29, 2015.
-Granted on 4/14/2020. US Patent #: 10,620,200. "
04/25/2020: Teamed up with Drs. Dominguez and Sun, we, a team for infectious disease study, received the IDR grant and IDR space from the new UTEP IDR building. Congrats to the team!
04/07/2020: Our recent work regarding smart paper transformer in Chem Sci was highlighted by RSC communications. Local link.
03/24/2020: A new paper regarding paper surface modification for grafting DNA codes has been accepted for publication in Analytical Chemistry. "Zhou, W.; Feng, M.; Valadez, A.; Li, X.* One-Step Surface Modification to Graft DNA Codes on Paper: The Method, Mechanism and Its Application, Anal Chem 2020, In Press." Congrats to Wan et al！
02/25/2020: A new paper regarding PnP hybrdid microfluidic devices for high-sensitivity immunoassay has been accepted for publication by Microsystems & Nanoengineering. "Sanjay, S. T.;+ Li, M.;+ Zhou, W.; Li, X.C.; Li, X.* A Reusable PMMA/Paper Hybrid Plug-and-Play Microfluidic Device for Ultrasensitive Immunoassay with Wide Dynamic Range, Microsystems & Nanoengineering 2020, Accepted.". Congrats to Sanjay and Meihan (Undergraduate) et al!
02/09/2020: A new paper regarding paper transformer-suppported catalysis has been accepted for publication by Chemical Science. "Jin, Q.; Ma, L.; Zhou, W.; Shen, Y.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Li, X.* Smart Paper Transformer: New insight for enhanced catalytic efficiency and reusability of noble metal nanocatalysts, Chemical Science 2020, Accepted." Congrats to Qijin et al. Well done!
02/08/2020: A new paper regarding photothermal genetic biosensing using a thermometer has been accepted for publication by Anal Chem. "Zhou, W.;⁺ Hu, K.;⁺ Kwee, S.; Tang, L.; Wang, Z.; Xia, J.; Li, X.* Gold Nanoparticle Aggregation-Induced Quantitative Photothermal Biosensing Using a Thermometer: A Simple and Universal Biosensing Platform, Anal Chem 2020, 92, 3, 2739-2747.". Congrats to Wan and Kaiqiang et al.
02/02/2020: We received a NSF I-Corps grant award for exploring commercialization of our "products". Thanks for the significant contributions from Hamed, Sanjay, Maowei, Les et al. Good job!
01/19/2020： One new paper has been accepted for publication in Catalysis Today. "Jin, Q.; Ma, L.; Zhou, W.; Chintalapalle, R.; Shen, Y.*; Li, X.* Strong interaction between Au nanoparticles and porous polyurethane sponge enables efficient environmental catalysis with high reusability, Catalysis Today 2020, Accepted."
01/07/2020: Dr. Li was invited to serve at the Advisory Board of Lab on a Chip.
01/06/2020: Dr. Li was invited to serve at the Advisory Board of Analyst.
01/01/2020: A new paper regarding high-sensitivity immunoassay was submitted for publication.