In an honor typically reserved for early-career professors and C-suite entrepreneurs, UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering PhD candidate Pengju Li has been named one of the MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific (TR35 Asia Pacific).
An offshoot of MIT Technology Review’s global Innovators Under 35, TR35 Asia Pacific was established in 2014 to highlight, recognize and propel “outstanding young innovators in Asia-Pacific area onto the highest international stage.”
Li was recognized for his interdisciplinary work as a UChicago PME graduate student in the lab of UChicago Chemistry Prof. Bozhi Tian, creating a light-powered, silicon-based device – a thin film 100 times lighter than facial tissue – to restart and control heartbeats following heart surgery.
“Pengju Li has focused on utilizing fundamental principles of physical chemistry and physiology to develop novel materials and electronic devices aimed at addressing medical and socio-economic challenges, particularly for cardiac and neurodegenerative diseases,” TR35 Asia Pacific stated in its award.
The group also has invented a new, minimally invasive endoscopic procedure to apply the device to the heart’s surface.
“I am deeply grateful to PME and the University of Chicago for their incredible support in fostering my career growth,” Li said. “I also want to express my heartfelt thanks to the mentors and friends who have guided me along my scientific journey, both here at UChicago and at NUS, where my academic path first began as an undergraduate. I am especially thankful to the Tian Lab, including Professor Bozhi Tian and all of my lab members, for their unwavering support. This achievement would not have been possible without their guidance and encouragement.”
Tian said sharing credit for success is typical of what he has come to expect from the talented student.
“He's intellectually extremely strong, but I also feel that he's such a humble person and extremely supportive of other people. He is a true mentor to others on his team and in the lab,” Tian said. “The measure of success should not just be personal achievements, but also the way that you lift other people up on the journey. Pengju is exactly that type of person.”
Li, Tian and UChicago Medicine Prof. Narutoshi Hibino are working with the UChicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to launch a startup that aims to redefine cardiac care by introducing light-driven cardiac pacemakers.
“I believe that anyone with an entrepreneurial mindset can be considered an entrepreneur, and I see myself in that light,” Li said. “This mindset is characterized by a willingness to take risks, collaborate in teams, and translate findings and skills into tangible technologies. These qualities have been integral to my journey in both academia and research.”
In addition to his work on light-powered cardiac devices, Li was also part of an interdisciplinary team that recently created “living bioelectronics”: a combination of living cells, gel, and electronics that can integrate with living tissue. His photography has won numerous UChicago awards, including the Pritzker Nanofabrication Laboratory’s Annual Nanofabrication Image Contest (PANIC).
Li’s long-term goals include leading a lab or institute “dedicated to exploring the beauty of nature and solving real-world problems through scientific discovery.”