Events

Date: 28 October 2026   Time: 15:00 - 16:00     

Location: SEMS Seminar Room, 3rd floor, Engineering Building

Title:

Electrochemical Analysis of Cells in Physical Microenvironment: from Single-Cell to Intercellular Communications

Abstract:

Cells exist in a complex microenvironment in vivo, where physical factors (e.g., mechanical, thermal, electric factors) influence and regulate cellular functions and properties, correlating with disease initiation and progression. And the development of diseases involves abnormal interactions and communications among multiple cells. Thus, constructing in vitro cell microenvironment models to simulate the in vivo microenvironment of diseases and developing in situ cell characterization techniques with high spatiotemporal resolution to observe cellular characteristics and multicellular interactions and communications within the microenvironment are crucial for exploring the mechanisms of diseases and advancing novel therapeutic technologies. In our works, we constructed various cell mechanical, thermal and electric microenvironment models to simulate the in vitro physical microenvironments of cancer, neuron and cardio cerebrovascular diseases. Then we employed scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) and scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) to in situ characterize multiparameters, including cellular metabolism, oxidative stress, and activation processes of various cells (e.g., cancer cells, cardiomyocytes, and nerve cells) in the disease models. The results provide in situ cell characterization data references for understanding the dynamic features and regulatory mechanisms of cellular systems associated with cancer, heart and neurodegenerative diseases.

About the speaker:

Prof. Fei Li received her B.S. in Chemistry from Northwest University (China) in 2001, M.S. in Analytical Chemistry from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) in 2004, and Ph.D. in Electrochemistry from University of Warwick (U.K.) in 2008. During 2008-2010, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) and Temple University (U.S.A.), respectively. During 2016-2017, she was a visiting scholar of Tohoku University (Japan). Currently, she is a professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University. She has published 121 papers on Chem. Rev., Nat. Commun., Adv. Mater., Adv. Sci., ACS Nano, Nano Lett., Chem. Sci., and Anal. Chem. etc.. Her H-factor is 43. Her present research interests are development and applications of electroanalytical methods and techniques in biomedical engineering field, including cellular electrochemical analysis and soft electrochemical point-of-care testing biosensors. She also serves as an associate editor of ACS Electrochemistry, editor board member for Chinese Chemical Letters and Journal of Electrochemistry, and young editor board member for Journal of Analysis and Testing.

Professor Fei Li, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University