Xiaocun Lu Receives Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor at Clarkson University
Clarkson University has announced that Xiaocun Lu has been granted tenure and promoted to associate professor of chemistry & biochemistry in the Coulter School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Lu’s research spans chemistry, materials science, and engineering, with a focus on polymer mechanochemistry, mechanoresponsive biomaterials, multimodal ultrasound imaging, and biomechanics. His work drives the development of advanced materials and imaging technologies with transformative applications in healthcare and diagnostics.
As a recognized leader in his field, Lu has been named a Scialog Fellow in Advancing Bioimaging and has secured major federal funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His awards include the NSF Engineering Research Initiation Award (ERI) and the NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA).
Lu’s research focuses on designing molecular mechanical sensors for mechanical sensing, next-generation bioimaging, and self-sensing biomaterials. His biomechanics work is advancing real-time visualization of mechanical forces within living cells, offering groundbreaking insights into cellular behavior and disease progression. Additionally, his ultrasound sensor technology merges ultrasound’s deep tissue penetration with the high-resolution capabilities of near-infrared imaging, significantly improving diagnostic precision. His findings have been published in leading journals such as Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nature Chemistry, Nature Communications, and ACS Sensors.
At Clarkson, Lu teaches courses in colloids, polymers, and organic chemistry, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in interdisciplinary research that bridges fundamental science with applied innovation.
Lu earned his B.S. in chemistry from Peking University in China and his Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering from The University of Akron, where he trained under Professor George R. Newkome. Following his doctoral studies, he conducted postdoctoral research with Professor Jeffrey S. Moore at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before joining Clarkson in 2018.
For more information about Lu’s research, visit www.LuResearchGroup.com.
