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.

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2014

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Correction: A Whole-Cell Biosensor for the Detection of Gold, Carla M. Zammit, Davide Quaranta, Shane Gibson, Anita J. Zaitouna, Christine Ta, Joël Brugger, Rebecca Lai, Gregor Grass, and Frank Reith

2009

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Continuous, Real-Time Monitoring of Cocaine in Undiluted Blood Serum via a Microfluidic, Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensor, James S. Swensen, Yi Xiao, Brian S. Ferguson, Arica A. Lubin, Rebecca Lai, Alan J. Heeger, Kevin W. Plaxco, and H. Tom. Soh

2008

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Microfluidic Device Architecture for Electrochemical Patterning and Detection of Multiple DNA Sequences, Elizabeth Pavlovic, Rebecca Lai, Ting Ting Wu, Brian S. Ferguson, Ren Sun, Kevin W. Plaxco, and H. T. Soh

2007

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Effect of Molecular Crowding on the Response of an Electrochemical DNA Sensor, Francesco Ricci, Rebecca Lai, Alan J. Heeger, Kevin W. Plaxco, and James J. Sumner

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Linear, redox modified DNA probes as electrochemical DNA sensors, Francesco Ricci, Rebecca Lai, and Kevin W. Plaxco

2006

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Rapid, sequence-specific detection of unpurified PCR amplicons via a reusable, electrochemical sensor, Rebecca Lai, Eric T. Hagally, Sang-Ho Lee, H. T. Soh, Kevin W. Plaxco, and Alan J. Heeger

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α,ω-Dithiol Oligo(phenylene vinylene)s for the Preparation of High-Quality π-Conjugated Self-Assembled Monolayers and Nanoparticle-Functionalized Electrodes, Dwight S. Seferos, Rebecca Lai, Kevin W. Plaxco, and Guillermo C. Bazan

1998

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Selective Determination of Methylmercury by Flow-Injection Fast-Scan Voltammetry, Rebecca Lai, Eva Huang, Feimeng Zhou, and David O. Wipf