Dr. Lillehoj’s research focuses on the development and translation of microfluidic and BioMEMS technologies for broad applications in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and global health. To achieve this goal, his laboratory explores new strategies to design, fabricate and integrate microfluidic and biosensing components to create innovative diagnostic platforms that are less expensive, easier to use and offer enhanced functionality compared with current laboratory-based technologies. He also has interests in the development of wearable biosensors for disease diagnosis and health monitoring, and point-of-care diagnostics for malaria detection and screening.

He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2006 from Johns Hopkins University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2008 and 2011, respectively. From 2012-2019, Dr. Lillehoj was a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Michigan State University (MSU). He joined the faculty at Rice in 2020. Dr. Lillehoj is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award in 2014, IEEE New Innovator in NANOMED Award in 2019, Wellcome Trust Innovator Award in 2019, and two Grand Challenges Explorations grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2017, he was awarded the Withrow Distinguished Junior Scholar Award at MSU. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Biomedical Engineering Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and is an Editorial Board member for Scientific Reports.