George Lu

George Lu is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Rice University and a CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research. He leads the Laboratory for Synthetic Macromolecular Assemblies (SynMA Group), focusing on gas-filled protein nanostructures for biomedical and material science applications. Prior to Rice, he conducted postdoctoral research at Caltech under Dr. Mikhail Shapiro, pioneering gas vesicle-based contrast agents for imaging modalities like ultrasound, MRI, and OCT. His work has been recognized with the 2018 Young Investigator Award from the World Molecular Imaging Society and supported by grants from CPRIT and NIH.

Education:

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology (2014-2019)
• Ph.D., Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego (2014)
• B.S., Biochemistry, University of Alberta (2007)

Research Interests:

Lu's research spans protein engineering, gene and cell therapies, and engineered living materials (ELMs). His lab develops genetically encodable gas vesicle nanostructures to address challenges in medical imaging and therapy. Key projects include non-invasive imaging of engineered cells, novel gene delivery strategies, and smart biomaterials for regenerative medicine.

Awards & Grants:

• Young Investigator of the Year, World Molecular Imaging Society (2018)
• CPRIT $2M Tenure-Track Faculty Grant (202?)
• NIH Pathway to Independence (K99/R00) Award

Labs & Teams:

The SynMA Group at Rice integrates synthetic biology, nanomedicine, and materials science to advance diagnostic tools and therapies. Current projects target improved cellular imaging, cancer diagnostics, and engineered living materials for biomedical applications.