Title: In Vivo Chemical Measurement of Neural Small Molecules

Speaker: Lanqun Mao (Dean, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University)

Host: Prof. Jinbin Liu

Time: 2:30 PM, Thursday, April 9, 2026

Venue: Conference Room 1109, Building B13, University Town Campus

Organizer: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Biography: 

Lanqun Mao is a Professor at the College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University. From October 2002 to January 2021, he worked at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as a Research Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor. Since January 2021, he has been working at the College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University. He has been dedicated to the research of in vivo analytical chemistry and has achieved a series of research accomplishments: discovered that fluidic memristors possess chemical synapse-like functions and proposed a new paradigm for brain-inspired sensing; established the primary battery-type redox potential analysis method; proposed new concepts for achieving in vivo sensing selectivity by regulating interfacial electron transfer, and created in situ and online analytical methods for biomolecules in living systems. He has published over 450 papers in journals such as Science, J. Am. Chem. Soc., and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., with some achievements being transferred and commercialized. As the first completer, he has received the Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award and the First Prize of Beijing Science and Technology Award. He currently serves as Associate Editor of ACS Sensors.

Abstract：

Chemistry is the material foundation of the brain. This is not only reflected in the chemical composition of the brain, but also in the fact that brain functions are realized through chemistry. For a long time, although research on the chemical basis of brain function (referred to as brain chemistry) has been recognized as crucial, very little has been known about it. Our research group is committed to the exploration and study of brain chemistry, aiming to elucidate the signal transduction and transmission mechanisms of important neural processes by developing principles and methods for cross-scale measurement of neural small molecules from in vivo systems to single vesicles. On this basis, we further explore the regulation and functional simulation of brain chemistry, promoting chemistry-led research on the fundamentals of brain function and brain-inspired studies.

  Announced by School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering