Dr. Lu heads the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Synthetic Biology Group in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, where he applies proprietary engineering techniques to biological systems, including bacteriophages, to address global concerns such as the growing incidence of antibiotic resistance.
“In 2017, AmpliPhi plans to initiate phage therapy studies in several patient groups, which we expect will mark a key inflection point for AmpliPhi and the phage therapy field,” said M. Scott Salka, CEO of AmpliPhi Biosciences.
“We are assembling our SAB to help guide us as we advance our product development activities and it’s particularly gratifying to have Dr. Lu, a leader in synthetic biology, as our SAB Chairman. Dr. Lu’s imaginative approaches to phage engineering and his dedication to addressing un-met clinical needs make him an invaluable resource, and we look forward to his input as we endeavor to deliver relief and benefit to patients with antibiotic-resistant infections.”
“Antibiotic-resistant infections are one of humanity’s greatest challenges, with many thousands of patients desperately in need of novel antimicrobial treatments,” said Dr. Lu.
“Phage technology shows significant promise in both destroying bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and in re-sensitising these drug-resistant populations to antibiotics. I’m delighted to chair AmpliPhi’s Scientific Advisory Board and assist in translating this technology from the research stage to the clinic.”
In addition to heading the Synthetic Biology Group, Dr. Lu is Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT and is an Associate Member of the Broad Institute.
He received undergraduate and master of engineering degrees from MIT, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a Ph.D. from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Medical Engineering and Medical Physics Program. He has won the NIH New Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), Young Investigator Prizes from the Army and Navy, the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, and Grand Prize in the National Inventor Hall of Fame’s Collegiate Inventors Competition.
He was named to the 2010 TR35 for “Top Young Innovators Under 35” by Technology Review. Dr. Lu is a frequent speaker on phage technology at prominent scientific conferences and has authored multiple phage-related articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
