Education
- Postdoctoral Research, University of California, Santa Barbara
- Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
- B.Sc., California State University, Los Angeles
Research Interests
- Electrochemical biosensor design
- Biomaterials-electrode interface characterization
- Protein engineering for sensor applications
- Scanning electrochemical miscroscopy
- Nanomaterials for energy-related applications
Honors and Awards
- UNL CAS Original Research and Creative Activity Award (2020)
- UNL Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education (2018)
- ACS Partners for Progress and Prosperity (P3) Regional Award (2018)
- ACS Partners for Progress and Prosperity (P3) Salute to Excellence (2017)
- ACS Local Section Outreach Volunteer of the Year (2017)
- ACS Chemistry Ambassador sash and Certificate of Recognition (2015)
- UNL NCMN Ambassador Award (2015)
- UNL College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award (2014)
- Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professorship (2014 – 2019)
- NSF CAREER award (2010)
Professional and Education/Outreach Activities
- Nebraska EPSCoR EQUATE Associate Director (2021 – present)
- National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) Fellow (2021 – present)
- Nebraska Nanoscale Facility (NNF) Associate Director (2020 – present)
- Analytica Chimica Acta Editor (2019 – present) (2020 Impact Factor: 6.558)
- ACS Local Section Alternate Councilor (2018 – present)
- UNL SciPop Talks! Co-founder and Co-organizer (2014 – present)
- “Harry Potter x Science” Education and Outreach Program (2012 – present)
- UNL Nebraska MRSEC Science Slams Co-organizer (2017 – 2021)
- Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences (WoPhyS) Conference Chair (2016 – 2021)
- Nebraska MRSEC Education/Outreach Director (2016 – 2021)
Selected Publications
- Use of Thiolated Oligonucleotides as Anti-fouling Diluents in Electrochemical Peptide-based Sensors. McQuistan, A.; Zaitouna, A. J.; Echeverria, E.; Lai, R. Y., Chem. Commun., 2014, DOI:10.1039/C4CC01290A.
- Fabrication of Electrochemical DNA Sensors on Gold-modified Recessed Platinum Nanoelectrodes. Salamifar, S. E.; Lai, R. Y., Anal. Chem., 2014, 86, 2849-2852.
- Three-Dimensional Periodic Graphene Nanostructures. Wilson, P.; Mbah, G.N.; Smith, T.G.; Schmidt, D.; Lai, R. Y.; Hofmann, T.; Sinitskii, A. J. Mater. Chem. C, 2014, 2, 1879-1886.
- Characterization of an Electrochemical Mercury Sensor Using Alternating Current, Cyclic, Square Wave and Differential Pulse Voltammetry. Guerreiro, G. V.; Zaitouna, A. J.; Lai, R. Y. Analytica Chimica Acta, 2014, 810, 79-85.
- Use of Combined Scanning Electrochemical and Fluorescence Microscopy for Detection of Reactive Oxygen Species in Prostate Cancer Cells. Salamifar, S. E.; Lai, R. Y. Anal. Chem., 2013, 85, 9417-9421.
- Electrochemical Techniques for Characterization of Stem-loop Probe and Linear Probe-based DNA Sensors. Lai, R. Y.; Walker, B.; Stormberg, K.; Zaitouna, A. J.; Yang, W. Methods, 2013, 64, 267-275.
- Signal-on” Electrochemical DNA Sensor with an Oligo-thymine Spacer for Point Mutation Detection. Wu, Y.; Lai, R. Y. Chem. Commun. 2013, 49, 3422-3424.
- The Effect of Signaling Probe Conformation on Sensor Performance of a Displacement-based Electrochemical DNA Sensor. Yu, Z.; Lai, R. Y. Anal. Chem., 2013, 85, 3340-3346.
- Development of an Electrochemical Insulin Sensor Based on the Insulin-linked Polymorphic Region. Gerasimov, J. Y.; Schaefer, C. S.; Yang, W.; Grout, R. L.; Lai, R. Y. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2013, 42, 62-68.
- Design and Characterization of an Electrochemical Peptide-based Sensor Fabricated via “Click” Chemistry. Gerasimov, J. Y.; Lai, R. Y. Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 8688-8690.
- A Folding-based Electrochemical Aptasensor for Detection of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Human Whole Blood. Zhao, S.; Yang, W.; Lai, R. Y. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2011, 26, 2442-2447.
- Fabrication of an Electrochemical DNA Sensor Array via Potential-assisted “Click” Chemistry. Caňete, S. J. P.; Lai, R. Y. Chem. Commun., 2010, 46, 3941-3943.