DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Rebecca Lai, Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska 68588 United States
rlai2@unl.edu

Research Interests:
Our research program comprises both fundamental and applicational aspects of biosensor research. The main objective of our research involves the design of folding-based electrochemical biosensors, with the goal of developing a portable real-time biosensor for point-of-care diagnosis. Our sensing strategy is to link ligand-induced folding in biopolymers (for example, peptides, nucleic acids) to a robust, electrochemical signaling mechanism. Unlike most optical-based biosensors, these sensors are reagentless, reusable, and insensitive to non-specific interactions of contaminants, thus allowing them to be employed directly in realistically complex media such as blood serum and urine.
Our research also encompasses the engineering of new or improved protein scaffolds (for example, periplasmic binding protein, calmodulin) for biosensor applications. Part of our research effort is to further understand protein-electrode interactions, with the aim at improving sensor performance and stability. We are also interested in exploring various electrode materials (for example, carbon, indium tin oxide), in particular, materials that are compatible with the fabrication of low-cost, high-quality sensor arrays.