Lai Lab Home
Dr. Lai received her B.S. degree in Biochemistry from California State University, Los Angeles. She conducted undergraduate research in the lab of Dr. Feimeng Zhou. She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin under the mentorship of Dr. Allen J. Bard. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her mentors were Dr. Alan J. Heeger and Dr. Kevin W. Plaxco. Dr. Lai is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Awards and Recognition
- NSF CAREER award (2010)
- Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professorship (2014 – 2019)
- UNL College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award (2014)
- UNL NCMN Ambassador Award (2015)
- ACS Chemistry Ambassador sash and Certificate of Recognition (2015)
- ACS Local Section Outreach Volunteer of the Year (2017)
- ACS Partners for Progress and Prosperity (P3) Salute to Excellence (2017)
- ACS Partners for Progress and Prosperity (P3) Regional Award (2018)
- UNL Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education (2018)
- UNL CAS Original Research and Creative Activity Award (2020)
Professional and Education/Outreach Activities
- Nebraska MRSEC Education/Outreach Director (2016 – 2021)
- Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences (WoPhyS) Conference Chair (2016 – 2021)
- UNL Nebraska MRSEC Science Slams Co-organizer (2017 – 2021)
- “Harry Potter x Science” Education and Outreach Program (2012 – present)
- UNL SciPop Talks! Co-founder and Co-organizer (2014 – present)
- ACS Local Section Alternate Councilor (2018 – present)
- Analytica Chimica Acta Editor (2019 – present) (2021 -2022 Impact Factor: 6.911)
- Nebraska Nanoscale Facility (NNF) Associate Director (2020 – present)
- National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) Fellow (2021 – present)
- Nebraska EPSCoR EQUATE Associate Director (2021 – present)
E-ION Sensor: Application of Calcium-binding Motif of E-cadherin for Electrochemical Detection of Pb(II). Lofti Zadeh Zhad, H. R.; Lai, R. Y. Anal. Chem. 2018, 90, 6519-6525.
E-DNA Sensor: Folding- and Dynamics-based Electrochemical DNA Sensors. Lai, R. Y. Enzymes as Sensors, Methods in Enzymology 2017, 589, 221-252.
E-AB Sensor: Towards the Development of a Sensitive and Selective Electrochemical Aptamer-based Ampicillin Sensor. Yu, Z.; Sulief, A. L.; Lai, R. Y. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 2018, 258, 722-729.
E-PB Sensor: Threonine Phosphorylation of an Electrochemical Peptide-based Sensor to Achieve Improved Uranyl Ion Binding Affinity. Thompson, C. C., Lai, R .Y. Biosensors 2022, 12, 961.
Nanosensor: Fabrication of Electrochemical DNA Sensors on Gold-modified Recessed Platinum Nanoelectrodes. Salamifar, S. E.; Lai, R. Y. Anal. Chem. 2014, 86, 2849-2852.
Electrochemical and Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor: Application of Electrochemical Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy for Characterization of Electrochemical DNA Sensors. Salamifar, S. E.; Lai, R. Y. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 2014, 122, 835-839.
Spin Crossover Polymer Composites: Evidence for Long Drift Carrier Lifetimes in [Fe(Htrz)2(trz)](BF4) Plus Polyaniline Composites. Mishra, E.; Ekanayaka, T. K.; McElveen, K. A.; Lai, R. Y.; Dowben, P. A. Organic Electronics 2022, 105, 106516.
NV Diamond Quantum Sensor: Nitrogen-Vacancy Magnetometry of Individual Fe-Triazole Spin Crossover Nanorods. Lamichhane, S., McElveen, K. A., Erickson, A., Fescenko, I., Sun, S., Timalsina, R., Guo, Y., Liou, S.-Y., Lai, R. Y., Laraoui, A. ACS Nano 2023 (in press).
Lai Lab News and Updates
- Postdoc position available – please contact Dr. Lai for more information (rlai2@unl.edu)
- Focus Area: Synthesis and characterization of organometallic complexes, nanomaterials, and quantum materials
- NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1: Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies (EQUATE) grant has been awarded! More exciting research and education/outreach activities on the way!
- Our collaborative work with Dr. Yongfeng Lu on boron-doped diamond is featured on UNL Pocket Science.
- Dr. Lai’s “She’s a Scientist” video is featured on Nebraska Today. Check out the video here and also on YouTube.
- Dr. Lai’s “Harry Potter” podcast episode with Jocelyn and Brad (Science! With Friends) is out! Check it out here.
- Dr. Lai’s “Harry Potter x Science” podcast episodes with Alie Ward at Ologies are now available. Check out the podcast episodes here.