About Us
We are a cross-disciplinary laboratory that unites researchers with complimentary expertise in engineering, health sciences, and physical sciences.
Our goal is to deconvolute human complexity and improve human health by studying biomolecules at multiple scales. We develop and apply innovative technologies to track disease progression and treatment response to learn the underlying pathologies associated with the human body. Ultimately, we aim to harness this information to develop better treatment strategies for cancer, autoimmune disease, infectious disease, and beyond.
We invite you explore our website and feel free to contact us with any questions about our work.
Latest News
January 30, 2026 - A study led by Huiqian Hu is now on-line in Med (Cell Press). The work introduces μPharma, a microfluidic, AI-driven pharmacotyping platform for single-cell drug sensitivity prediction in leukemia. Read More.
January 1, 2026 - Donovan Durand joins as graduate student research scholar. Welcome aboard, Donovan!
November 20-23, 2025 - Dr. Lu served as Meeting Co-Chair for the 2025 AAEV Annual Conference held in Salt Lake City. Members of the our lab contributed volunteer support, helping ensure the success of this international meeting.
June 9, 2025 - Our lab is hosting two high school students as part of the College of Pharmacy’s High School Research Internship Program!
April 9, 2025 - Dr. Lu was recognized with the Chinese Association for Biomaterials Young Investigator Award for outstanding contributions to biomedical research and innovation.
April 1, 2025 - Our lab was awarded funding to support studies on long COVID—Thank you to the RECOVER initiative!
January 6, 2025 - Md Hasan Al Faruque joins as Postdoctoral Fellow. Welcome onboard Hasan!
January 1, 2025 - Our lab was awarded funding from the Ben B. and Iris M. Margolis Foundation for Transformational Research Projects, supporting collaborative research with the Leung Lab!
Our Environment
The DigiPharma Lab is housed in the Departments of Molecular Pharmaceutics in the College of Pharmacy and Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Utah. The University of Utah is a research-intensive institution with cutting-edge healthcare and research facilities, an annual excess of $600 million in research funding, and a highly supportive environment for student and faculty entrepreneurial activities. The University is also located in the beautiful Wasatch foothills, providing access to world-class outdoor recreational opportunities.
Our lab fosters a vibrant and collaborative atmosphere, enabling interactions with researchers and clinicians across various departments and institutions. In addition to the resources available in our lab at the Skaggs Research Institute and the Biomedical Polymers Research Building, we also have access the best academic infrastructure and resources available in the Intermountain West, including the Utah Nanofab and the Center for Medical Innovation. As a member of our lab, you'll have access to these amazing resources, both within and outside of the University.
Reference: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/utah
Yue Lu, Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics
College of Pharmacy
University of Utah
Dr. Lu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics at the College of Pharmacy, and a member of the Experimental Therapeutics Program at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. She received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Nanjing University, and Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina (NC) State University, under the guidance of Dr. Zhen Gu in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. She completed postdoctoral research with Dr. James R. Heath at the Institute for Systems Biology and Caltech.
Keywords: Controlled drug delivery; Quantitative microscopy; Systems biology; Extracellular vesicle analysis; Translational medicine
Alphonsus Ng, Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Utah
Dr. Ng is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the College of Engineering. He received his B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering both at the University of Toronto, where he conducted pre- and postdoctoral research with Dr. Aaron R. Wheeler in the Department of Chemistry and in the Institute for Biomedical Engineering. He also completed postdoctoral research with Dr. James R. Heath at the Institute for Systems Biology and Caltech.
Keywords: Microfluidics; Single-cell analysis; Point-of-care diagnostics; Cancer immunology