Professional Experience

2026 - present Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. NC State University, Raleigh, NC.
Professor

2010 - 2026 Department of Chemical Engineering. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
Graduate Program Director (2020 - 2026), Fred W. Bull Endowed Professor (2016 - 2026), Professor (2015 - 2016), Associate Professor (2010 - 2015)

2015 - 2026 Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Winston-Salem, NC.
Assistant Director (2024 - 2026), Co-leader of Signaling and Biotechnology Program (2023 - 2024), member (2015 - 2023)

2016 Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA.
Visiting professor (on sabbatical) in Prof. Joseph Ecker lab.

2004 - 2009 Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
Associate Professor (2009), Assistant Professor (2004 - 2009).

Education

2002 - 2004, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Applied Physics, Cornell University.

2002, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

2001, M.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

1998, B.S. Chemistry, Peking University.

Honors

2026 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA), NIH-NIGMS

2025 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

2020 Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

2016 Fred W. Bull Endowed Professorship, Virginia Tech.

2015 Dean's Award for Research Excellence, Virginia Tech.

2012 Faculty Fellow, Virginia Tech.

2008 Teaching for Tomorrow Award, Purdue University.

2008 NSF CAREER Award.

2007 Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Award.

2006 Seed for Success Award, Purdue University.

2006 First Annual Millionaires Club Award, Purdue University.