News
2024
November 03, 2024 Our paper describing a label-free and portable electrochemical DNA sensor for detecting cellular forces has been published in Anal. Chim. Acta.
September 24, 2024 Our review paper about optogenetic tools that have been used for regulating RNA metabolism and functions has been published in ChemBioChem.
September 02, 2024 A chemistry major undergrad, Jae Le, joins the lab. Welcome Jae!
August 27, 2024 Priyanka Bhattacharyya is awarded a William E McEwen Award for outstanding poster presentation during ResearchFest 2024. Congrats, Priyanka!
August 21, 2024 Our review paper about DNA nanodevices that can regulate membrane receptor dimerization and oligomerization has been published in Chem Comm.
July 29, 2024 We have received a 2-year grant from NSF to develop DNA probes for modulating cell membrane protein-protein interactions. Thanks, NSF MCB program!
July 15, 2024 Ru Zheng will start a 5.5-month co-op at Dyne Therapeutics. Congrats!
June 27, 2024 Hari Priya Sriramakrishnan has been awarded 2-year UMass Chemistry-Biology Interface Fellowship. Congrats, Hari!
June 23, 2024 Our collaborative paper describing the RNA-templated synthesis of fluorescent AuNCs for potential cellular RNA imaging has been accepted by Colloids Surf. B Biointerfaces.
June 17, 2024 Zhaolin Xue starts a 10-week summer internship at Biogen. Congrats!
June 11, 2024 Our paper describing a so-called “seqFRIES” system for multiplexed sequential imaging in living cells has been accepted by Nucleic Acids Research.
June 10, 2024 Lan Mi starts a 12-week summer internship at Malvern Panalytical. Congrats!
June 03, 2024 Lee-SIP undergrad student, Lucy Luong, joins the lab for summer research. Welcome!
May 21, 2024 Biological sciences major undergrad from Mount Holyoke College, Chang “Claire” Yuan, joins the lab. Welcome!
May 09, 2024 Congrats Ahsan Ausaf Ali on passing his thesis defense! The Ph.D. #7 from our lab! Ahsan has started his Research Scientist position at Spear Bio. We will miss you, Ahsan!
April 18, 2024 Our News & Views paper about mechanically activated RTK signaling has been published in Nature Chemical Biology.
April 10, 2024 Mingxu has received an Outstanding Research Award from the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst!
March 25, 2024 New Molecular & Cellular Biology major graduate student, Yizhan Guo, joins our lab. Welcome Yizhan!
February 29, 2024 Our paper describing the first DNA-based electrochemical sensor for measuring cell-generated forces has been accepted by Biosense Bioelectron.
February 01, 2024 Lan Mi receives a prestigious two-year $100,000 SLAS Graduate Education Fellowship in recognition of one outstanding student each year pursuing graduate degrees in any discipline related to life sciences R&D. Congrats, Lan!
January 18, 2024 Congrats Qian Tian on passing her thesis defense! The Ph.D. #6 from our lab! Qian has started her Scientist position at Dyne Therapeutics. We will miss you, Qian!
2023
December 08, 2023 New chemistry major graduate student, Hari Priya Sriramakrishnan, joins our lab. Welcome Hari Priya!
November 18, 2023 Ahsan Ausaf Ali receives the Paul Hatheway Terry Scholarship in recognition of his research and academic standing. Congrats, Ahsan! The fourth You Lab winner in a row for this one of the most prestigious awards in the department!
October 09, 2023 Our paper describing the use of DNA molecular tension probes for imaging intercellular tensile forces in 3D spheroids and embryoid bodies has been accepted by Front Cell Dev Biol.
August 29, 2023 Ahsan Ausaf Ali is awarded a William E McEwen Scholarship Fund Award for oral presentation during ResearchFest 2023. Congrats, Ahsan!
August 21, 2023 Murali Mohana Rao Singuru joins the lab as a postdoctoral researcher. Welcome Murali!
July 10, 2023 Our paper describing an approach for targeted RNA condensation in living cells via genetically encoded triplet repeat tags has been accepted by Nucleic Acids Res.
July 05, 2023 Our collaborative paper describing a DNA-based nanodevice for controllable mitochondrial aggregation and fusion has been accepted by Chem Sci.
June 19, 2023 Mahmoud Amouzadeh Tabrizi joins the lab as a senior research fellow. Welcome Mahmoud!
June 18, 2023 Jinan Qin joins the lab as a summer visiting graduate student. Welcome Jinan!
June 06, 2023 Qian Tian will start a 6-month co-op at Entrada Therapeutics. Congrats!
May 30, 2023 Ahsan Ausaf Ali starts a 10-week summer internship at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Congrats!
May 29, 2023 Chemistry major undergrad from Mount Holyoke College, Qinge Liu, joins the lab. Welcome!
May 02, 2023 Congrats Zhining Sun on passing his thesis defense! The Ph.D. #5 from our lab! Jennings will join Prof. Tom Soh’s lab at Stanford University for a postdoc position afterwards.
April 06, 2023 Justin Kieu has received a Michael Bruno Chemistry Scholarship Award. Congrats, Justin!
March 29, 2023 A special research topic of The Current Landscape of Nucleic Acid-Based Drug Delivery Systems in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences edited by Prof. Mingxu You. Prof. Zhenbao Liu, and Prof. Chi Yao is now accepting different article types!
March 01, 2023 A visiting graduate student from Université Paris Cité, Rania Joomun, joins the lab. Welcome Rania!
February 13, 2023 A chemistry major undergrad, Justin Kieu, joins the lab. Welcome Justin!
January 31, 2023 A special research topic of Trends in Fluorescent and Bioluminescent Biosensors in the journal Biosensors edited by Prof. Mingxu You and Prof. Huiwang Ai is now accepting different article types!
January 24, 2023 We have received a 2.5-year grant from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to develop multiplexed RNA-based fluorescent sensors for dynamic imaging. Thanks, CZI!
2022
December 27, 2022 Our paper describing the first fluorogenic RNA-based bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) sensors has been accepted by ACS Sensors.
December 19, 2022 Two new chemistry major graduate students, Priyanka Bhattacharyya and Sima Khajouei, join our lab. Welcome Priyanka and Sima!
December 05, 2022 A special research topic of Advanced Functional Materials-Based Sensors in the journal Frontiers in Chemistry edited by Prof. Mingxu You and others is now accepting different article types!
November 26, 2022 Ahsan Ausaf Ali receives the Paul Hatheway Terry Scholarship in recognition of his research and academic standing. Congrats, Ahsan! The third You Lab winner in a row for this most prestigious award in the department given to only one graduate student each year!
October 10, 2022 For the third year in a row, Mingxu has been recognized as one of the Stanford’s List of World’s Top 2% Scientists.
September 08, 2022 Our paper describing an advanced DNA hybridization-based approach for lipid domains in live-cell membranes has been accepted by Nano Letters.
June 08, 2022 Mingxu has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure!
May 25, 2022 Mingxu is now an associate editor of the analytical chemistry section of Frontiers in Chemistry, new submissions are welcome!
May 16, 2022 Undergrad student from McGill University, Anastasiya Kaltashova, joins the lab for summer research. Welcome, Anastasiya!
May 05, 2022 Our invited review describing recent progress of applying lipid-DNA conjugates for studying cell membrane biophysics has been accepted by Quarterly Rev Biophys.
April 5, 2022 Qian Tian will take a 3-month summer internship at Dyne Therapeutics. Congrats!
March 18, 2022 Jikun Wang has received an Oliver Zajicek Memorial Scholarship Award. Congrats, Jikun!
March 18, 2022 Kevin Alexander has received a J.F.B. Fund for undergraduate research during summer. Congrats, Kevin!
March 08, 2022 Our invited review describing recent development of DNA-based mechanical sensors and regulators has been accepted by Chem Comm in a special issue of Emerging Investigators.
February 18, 2022 Ahsan Ausaf Ali will take a 10-week summer internship at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Congrats!
January 25, 2022 A microbiology major undergrad, Michelle Moskvitch, and a biochemistry major Kevin Alexander join the lab. Welcome!
2021
December 20, 2021 Dr. Yuanchang Liu joins the lab as a research fellow. Welcome!
December 09, 2021 Congrats Rigumula Wu on passing her thesis defense! The Ph.D. #4 from our lab! Good luck at Genentech.
December 08, 2021 Jennings Sun receives the Paul Hatheway Terry Scholarship in recognition of his research and academic standing. Congrats, Jennings!
December 02, 2021 Congrats Puspam Keshri on passing his thesis defense! The Ph.D. #3 from our lab! Puspam will join Laronde (Endless RNA Therapeutics) afterwards.
November 12, 2021 Our paper describing a DNA hybridization-based approach for imaging membrane order and transient interactions in living cells has been accepted by Angew Chem Int Ed.
September 06, 2021 We are on Twitter now! Follow us @UMass_YouLab.
September 06, 2021 Our paper describing a RNA-based sensor that enables for the first time the live-cell imaging of (p)ppGpp has been accepted by Angew Chem Int Ed.
September 01, 2021 Two biochemistry major undergrads, Sarthak Srivastava and Simon Kangoun, join the lab. Welcome!
August 24, 2021 During ResearchFest 2021, Rigumula Wu is awarded a William E McEwen Scholarship Fund Award for oral presentation. Ru Zheng is a First Place winner of Marvin D. Rausch Scholarship Award for outstanding poster presentation. Congrats, Rigumula and Ru!
August 05, 2021 Congrats Yousef Bagheri on passing his thesis defense! The second Ph.D. from our lab! Yousef will join the Sarah Veatch Lab at the University of Michigan as a postdoc fellow.
July 28, 2021 Congrats Qikun Yu on passing his thesis defense! The first You Lab Ph.D.! Qikun will join the PTC Therapeutics as an RNA biology scientist.
July 13, 2021 Our invited paper describing a recently developed software for engineering genetically encoded RNA nanodevices has been accepted by Trends in Chemistry.
July 12, 2021 Mingxu has received 2020-21 Burlew Award from Connecticut Valley Section of American Chemical Society. Thanks, CVS – ACS!
June 19, 2021 Our collaborative paper describing a photodiode-based on-chip ratiometric aptamer sensor for detecting cytokine dynamics has been accepted by Sensors Actuators B: Chem.
June 11, 2021 Ru Zheng has been awarded 2-year UMass Chemistry-Biology Interface Fellowship. Congrats, Ru!
June 05, 2021 Our invited book chapter describing rational design of allosteric fluorogenic RNA sensors has now been published in RNA Scaffolds, part of Methods in Molecular Biology book series, Springer.
June 01, 2021 CURE-REU undergrad student from Holyoke Community College, Anastasia Antropova, joins the lab for summer research. Welcome, Anastasia!
May 03, 2021 Our paper describing a fluorescence lifetime-based approach for quantitative and multiplexed imaging of intercellular tensile forces has been accepted by Angew Chem Int Ed. This paper has also been selected as a Very Important Paper (VIP).
April 30, 2021 Mingxu has been selected as a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar. For more information, please check this UMass News. Thanks, the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation!
April 06, 2021 Dr. Kewei Ren has accepted an offer from Nanjing University of Science and Technology in China. He will be a Professor of Chemical Engineering and starts his own lab! Congrats, Kewei!
March 30, 2021 Our invited review describing recent development of genetically encoded RNA nanodevices that can be used for cellular imaging and regulation has been accepted by Nanoscale in a special issue of Emerging Investigators.
March 29, 2021 Mingxu joins the editorial board of Biosensors, new submissions are welcome!
March 15, 2021 Chemical Engineering major undergrad, Raymond Pho, joins the lab. Welcome!
February 22, 2021 Chemistry major graduate students, Lan Mi and Zhaolin Xue, join our lab. Welcome Lan and Zhaolin!
February 16, 2021 Biochemistry major undergrad, Jahn Pothier, joins the lab. Welcome!
2020
December 28, 2020 Our paper describing lipid-DNA conjugate-based efficient and selective membrane modification on various bacterial cells has been accepted by Chemical Science.
December 04, 2020 Yousef Bagheri receives the Paul Hatheway Terry Scholarship in recognition of his research and academic standing. Congrats, Yousef!
December 03, 2020 A special issue of DNA Nanotechnology on Bio-membranes edited by Prof. Mingxu You and Dr. Bin Zhao is now accepting original research and review papers!
October 16, 2020 Our invited review paper describing current methods for measuring cell membrane transient interactions has been accepted by Front Chem in a special issue of Rising Stars.
August 18, 2020 Puspam Keshri is awarded William E McEwen Fellowship Award for outstanding poster presentation during ResearchFest 2020. Congrats, Puspam!
August 14, 2020 Our paper describing an RNA aptamer-based photosensitizer for targeted cell regulation has been accepted by Angew Chem Int Ed.
July 22, 2020 Our paper describing a DNA-based probe to quantify intercellular tensile forces has been accepted by Chemical Science.
July 09, 2020 Mingxu joins the editorial board of Membranes, new submissions are welcome!
June 08, 2020 The lab reopens following a COVID-19 shut down in March.
May 06, 2020 Our invited paper describing the first fluorogenic RNA sensors in a paper substrate for the point-of-care testing has been accepted by Anal Methods in a special issue of Emerging Investigators.
April 20, 2020 Manojkumar Narayanan, passes his M.S. thesis defense from UMass Lowell biology program. Congrats, Manoj!
February 07, 2020 Our invited paper describing live-cell dynamic imaging of small molecules using ratiometric RNA-based sensors has been accepted by ACS Applied Bio Materials.
January 22, 2020 Our paper describing a genetically encoded RNA hybridization chain reaction for imaging RNA sub-cellular locations has been accepted by JACS.
January 21, 2020 Chemistry major undergrad, Zhixin Mo, and Honor college student, Alan Chai, join the lab. Welcome!
2019
December 17, 2019 Chemistry major graduate students, Ru Zheng and Ahsan Ausaf Ali, join our lab. Welcome Ahsan and Ru!
November 26, 2019 Yousef Bagheri receives a Biophysical Society travel award to attend 2020 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting. Congrats, Yousef!
November 18, 2019 Our invited review paper describing the process and application of lipid-oligonucleotide conjugates for cell membrane engineering and analysis has been accepted by Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering.
November 12, 2019 Prof. Yang Shu from Northeastern University of China joins the lab as a visiting scholar. Welcome, Yang!
October 23, 2019 Our paper describing a comprehensive quantification of the dynamic modification process of lipid-DNA probes onto live cell membranes has been accepted by Chemical Science. This paper has been selected as a 2019 Chemical Science HOT Article.
October 11, 2019 Nuanfei Zhu from Jiangsu University joins the lab as a visiting graduate student. Welcome, Nuanfei!
October 07, 2019 Our paper describing the quantitative imaging of small molecules using ratiometric RNA-based sensors has been accepted by Angew Chem Int Ed.
September 13, 2019 Chemistry major undergrad, Jikun Wang, Biochemistry major undergrads, Yiwen Xie, Zachary Gentile, Saoirse Connolly, and David Lutati, join the lab. Welcome!
August 27, 2019 A five-year NIH grant! We are honored to receive a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA R35). For more information, please check this UMass News. Thanks, NIGMS!
August 27, 2019 Qikun Yu and Rigumula Wu are both awarded William E McEwen Fellowship Awards for outstanding poster presentation during ResearchFest 2019. Congrats, Rigumula and Qikun!
June 07, 2019 Our invited review paper describing lipid-DNA conjugates for cell membrane modification, analysis, and regulation has been accepted by Supramol Chem in a special issue of Emerging Supramolecular Chemists in North America.
May 28, 2019 CURE-REU undergrad student from UT Austin, Nicholas Fong, joins the lab for summer research. Welcome, Nicholas!
May 28, 2019 UMass Lowell biology graduate student, Manojkumar Narayanan, joins the lab for the M.S. thesis research. Welcome, Manojukumar!
May 28, 2019 Our collaborative paper describing a DNA-based microfluidic device for potassium detection during dialysis treatment has been accepted by Biomed Eng OnLine.
April 26, 2019 Mark Leon-Duque has received a Mr. Tompkins Award, an Edward Shapiro Fund Award, and an ACS-Connecticut Valley Section Student Award. Congrats, Mark!
April 26, 2019 Sara Chedid has received an Oliver Zajicek Memorial Scholarship Award and a Chemistry Departmental Recognition Award. Congrats, Sara!
April 16, 2019 A seed fund from IALS M2M is awarded to support our collaboration with Prof. Anne Gershenson at UMass. Thanks, M2M!
March 27, 2019 Qikun Yu receives a CBI travel grant. Congrats, Qikun!
March 23, 2019 Yousef Bagheri and Qikun Yu receive the department travel grant for graduate students. Congrats, Yousef and Qikun!
March 18, 2019 Yousef Bagheri receives a funding to attend a week-long Quantitative Fluorescence Microscopy course at MDI Biological Laboratory in Maine. Thanks, M2M and Light Microscopy Facility!
February 19, 2019 Mingxu has been selected as a Sloan Research Fellow in chemistry. For more information, please check this UMass News. Thanks, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation!
February 05, 2019 We have received a five-year NSF CAREER Award to support our development of genetically encoded RNA-based sensors. For more information, please check this UMass News. Thanks, CBET!
February 05, 2019 Our invited review paper describing intracellular imaging with genetically encoded RNA-based sensors has been accepted by Nanomaterials.
January 22, 2019 Biochemistry major freshman, Rafael De Pillis, joins the lab. Welcome, Rafael!
January 15, 2019 Mingxu joins the editorial board of PeerJ Analytical Chemistry, new submissions are now welcome!
January 13, 2019 Our invited review paper describing recent advancement of fluorogenic RNA-based sensors has been accepted by Methods.
2018
December 17, 2018 Our paper describing an RNA integrator sensor for intracellular imaging of low-abundance metabolites has been accepted by Cell Chem Biol.
December 13, 2018 Our paper describing a genetically encoded RNA-based sensor for intracellular imaging of silver ions has been accepted by ChemComm.
December 06, 2018 Chemistry major graduate student, Qian Tian, joins our lab. Welcome Qian (Tina)!
October 29, 2018 Mark Leon-Duque, undergrad in the lab, has been awarded the 2018-2019 UMass Amherst Rising Researcher Student Achievement Award. Congrats, Mark!
September 05, 2018 Biochemistry major undergrad, Tony Nguyen, joins the lab. Welcome, Tony!
August 29, 2018 Yousef is awarded William E McEwen Fellowship Award for outstanding poster presentation during ResearchFest 2018. Congrats, Yousef!
August 21-22, 2018 Mingxu organizes a two-day “super” symposium on “Nucleic Acid-based Sensors” at the 256th ACS National Meeting. He also gives two invited talks on intercellular force sensors and genetically encoded RNA sensors, respectively. Thanks for the support from a wonderful group of speakers in the symposium!
August 17, 2018 Chemistry major graduate student, Puspam Keshri, joins our lab. Welcome Puspam!
July 30, 2018 Kewei Ren joins the lab as a postdoctoral research associate. Welcome Kewei!
June 26, 2018 Our paper describing a novel genetically encoded RNA circuit for low-abundance RNA imaging has been accepted by JACS.
March 14, 2018 Casey O’Brien, undergrad in the lab, has been awarded the Richard W. Fessenden Excellence Award for two graduating seniors, and the Departmental Recognition Award for two outstanding chemistry majors any years. Congrats, Casey!
March 14, 2018 Undergrad in the lab, Katherine Poisson, has been awarded an American Institute of Chemists Award for a senior chemistry major who has demonstrated an outstanding record of achievement, leadership and character, and was also recognized as a Distinguished Undergraduate TA. Congrats, Kate!
March 14, 2018 Mark Leon-Duque, undergrad in the lab, has been awarded the 2018 Richason Award for being a rising senior dedicated to academics and strong character, and a Bradspies Summer Research Fellowship. Congrats, Mark!
February 28, 2018 Our collaboration paper describing an isothermal method to exponentially amplify DNA has been published in Chemical Science.
February 13, 2018 Our collaborative NIH R01 grant with Prof. Stephen Lory at Harvard Medical School and X-Chem, LLC has been awarded. Thanks, NIAID!
February 06, 2018 Biochemistry major undergrad, Kathleen McAuliffe, chemistry major undergrad, Rashad Almadani, together with a chemistry major undergrad from Mount Holyoke College, Yeonsoo Kum, join the lab. Welcome!
2017
December 15, 2017 Chemistry major graduate student, Zhining (Jennings) Sun, joins our lab. Welcome Jennings!
December 06, 2017 Our paper describing a novel DNA probe for intercellular tensile force measurement has been accepted by JACS.
June 06, 2017 Qikun Yu, graduate student in the lab, is awarded 2-year UMass Chemistry-Biology Interface Traineeship. Congrats, Qikun!
April 21, 2017 Mark Leon-Duque, undergrad in the lab, was awarded the Uche Anyanwu Memorial Award for Outstanding Research. Congrats, Mark!
April 10, 2017 A seed fund from IALS M2M is awarded to support our collaboration with Prof. Yubing Sun at UMass. Thanks, M2M!
April 03, 2017 Undergrad in the lab, Casey O’Brien, has been awarded the Bradspies Summer Research Fellowship. Congrats, Casey!
February 02, 2017 Chemistry major graduate student, Yousef Bagheri, joins our lab. Welcome Yousef!
January 23, 2017 Four chemistry major undergraduate students, Mark Leon-Duque, Sara Chedid, Casey O’Brien, and Katherine Poisson, together with one microbiology major junior, Alden Richter, join the lab. Welcome!!
2016
December 16, 2016 Chemistry major graduate students, Rigumula Wu and Qikun Yu, officially join our lab. Welcome Rigumula! Welcome Qikun!
November 25, 2016 Our paper describing a novel DNA probe for monitoring dynamic lipid encounters on live cell membranes has been accepted by Nature Nanotechnology.
November 14, 2016 Jing Shi from Tsinghua University joins the lab as a visiting student. Welcome Jing!
November 14, 2016 Bin Zhao joins the lab as a postdoctoral research associate. Welcome Bin!
October 02, 2016 Aruni Karunanyake joins the lab as a research fellow. Welcome Aruni!
September 2016 Mingxu becomes faculty member of Institute for Applied Life Sciences, Chemistry-Biology Interface Program, Molecular & Cellular Biology Graduate Program, Center for Biological Physics, and Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UMass Amherst.
August 29, 2016 Day 1 of the You Lab at UMass Amherst!
June 02, 2016 Our collaboration paper describing an ultrafast excited state proton transfer of fluorinated GFP chromophore has been accepted by Chemical Science.
April 19, 2016 Our paper describing how to design and optimize fluorogenic riboswitch sensors has been published in Methods in Enzymology.
March 24, 2016 The You Lab website is now up and running! Welcome!