Lidong Qin, Ph.D.Professor of Nanomedicine, Institute for Academic MedicineFull Member, Research InstituteHouston MethodistWeill Cornell Medical College

Dr. Qin received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and completed a postdoctoral traineeship in Cancer Nanotechnology at the California Institute of Technology. In Prof. Chad Mirkin's lab at the Northwestern University, Dr. Qin worked on functional metallic nanorods, with the invention of on-wire lithography and the development of Raman spectrum-based imaging and sensing methods. His research provided insightful understanding of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy and Surface Plasmon Resonance, which are the basics of Raman-based cancer imaging and nanomaterial-based cancer thermal therapeutics. Because of his pioneering work in metal nanomaterial synthesis and biological applications, he was awarded the International Precious Metal Institute (IPMI) graduate student prize. His other awards include the Materials Research Society graduate student award, Chinese government award for graduate students studying abroad, and Searle center for teaching excellence award. During his four years at Northwestern University, Dr. Qin received eight patents and published fourteen peer-reviewed journal articles, in journals including Science, PNAS, JACS and Nano Letters.

Later, Dr. Qin moved to Caltech as a postdoctoral fellow, working with Prof. James Heath. He developed automatic proteomic barcode chips that allow highly multiplexed plasma cancer biomarker measurements from a finger-prick of blood. Dr. Qin's method is recognized as a significant improvement over the cost and speed of standard laboratory tests to analyze proteins in blood. In his three-year postdoctoral research position, he also worked on integrated microfluidic chips to handle prostate cancer cell culture and study proteomic profiles from individual cells. He continued to excel and make major contributions to his field, receiving another patent and publishing three peer-reviewed papers in Nature Nanotechnology, Lab on a Chip and Nature Biotechnology.

Dr. Qin joined the TMHRI Department of Nanomedicine in July 2010 and was awarded with a prestigious startup award, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) recruitment award for first-time, tenure-track faculty.

Qin Lab