Yanyu Xiong

Research Abstract:

Research Vision: My research vision is to revolutionize healthcare by creating highly sensitive, affordable, and user-friendly biosensing platforms that enable early detection and real-time monitoring of diseases for personalized treatment strategies. By integrating nanophotonics, DNA nanostructures, advanced computational methods, and exploring the molecular mechanisms behind neurodegenerative disorders, I aspire to make disease diagnosis more effective, precise, and accessible for everyone. Overview of Past Research: My research focuses on revolutionizing cancer diagnostics through the development of a costeffective, efficient platform for exosomal microRNA (miR) quantification in blood - a critical marker in metastatic prostate cancer. Despite the potential of miR as a non-invasive 'liquid biopsy', conventional methods grapple with limited sensitivity, dynamic range, and sequence-specificity, coupled with lengthy and costly processes, particularly in small blood volumes. My solution was a novel assay platform integrates photonic crystal-enhanced fluorescence (PCEF) and single-molecule quantum dot (QD) imaging, significantly elevating biomolecular detection capabilities. This approach elevated sensitivity, selectivity, and multiplexing capabilities in biomolecular detection, aiming to transform early cancer diagnostics testing using affordable instruments. Impact of Past Research: My work integrates photonic technology to capture single-molecule images using costeffective optics, promising affordable, precise, and efficient miRNA measurements, thereby revolutionizing cancer diagnostics and personalized treatment strategies, aiming to transform daily based early cancer detection using affordable instruments. My recent publications1-4 report nearly 3000-fold signal enhancement achieved through multiplicative effects of enhanced excitation, highly directional extraction, quantum efficiency improvement, and blinking suppression through a photonic crystal surface. This technology enables single-molecule miR quantification, pivotal for monitoring metastatic prostate cancer, with high signal-to-noise ratio even when using inexpensive optics. By leveraging the photonic crystal's blinking suppression capability, we improved the quantum dot's active time from 15% to 85%. Further, our assay offers single-molecule resolution, single-base mutation selectivity, and a 10-attomolar detection limit for cancer-associated miR biomarkers. Observations of differential quantum dot surface motion trajectories deepen our understanding of cancer-specific miR sequences. The ongoing validation with diverse clinical plasma samples promises transformation in precise/affordable cancer care. Future Research Plan: My future research centers on three primary aims, integrating advanced microscopy techniques and DNA technology to address significant challenges in biosensing, neurodegenerative disorders, and rapid virus detection.

Bio:

Yanyu Xiong graduated from University of Colorado at Boulder with a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering (2017) and is currently a PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her previous research experience includes stretchable bioelectronics, implantable neural probes, and bio-electromagnetics. Her current research focuses on photonics crystal enhanced fluorescence microscopy, biosensor, and DNA nanotechnology. She is a former Coordinator and Vice President at IEEE Macau Section Student Branch (2012-2014) and a current member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS), Tau Beta Pi, and IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu (HKN).