Department of Food Science
244 Chenoweth Laboratory
102 Holdsworth Way
Amherst, MA 01003
(413) 545-5847
[email protected]
www.umass.edu/food-science/about/directory/lili-he
He's Advanced Analytical Lab
Director of Raman, IR, and XRF Spectroscopy
Professor and Department Head of Food Science
Lili He earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Zhejiang University in China and obtained her PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia in the United States in 2009. After completing her postdoctoral training at the University of Minnesota, she joined the Food Science Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst as an Assistant Professor in 2012. In 2018, Dr. He was promoted to Associate Professor, and in 2022, she was promoted to Full Professor. In 2020, Dr. He established the Raman, IR, and XRF Core Facility at the University of Massachusetts, providing analytical services to both the university and external clients.
Dr. He's major research focus is to develop and apply the most advanced and innovative analytical techniques to help solve critical and emerging issues in food science. The central tool of Lili’s research is surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), which is a combination of Raman spectroscopy and nano-techniques. The use of metallic nanostructure enhances the Raman signals more than a million times. Her group has developed various SERS based techniques for food safety and food chemistry applications.
Current Research
Dr. He's current research involves the use of SERS for the study of chemical, biological, and engineered nanoparticles contaminants in complex food matrices. For chemical detection, we have developed several innovative SERS methods for rapid detection of pesticides on and in different food matrices. Recently, we also developed an in situ method to analyze pesticide penetration in plant tissues using gold nanoparticles as probes. For bacterial detection, we have developed a mapping method to detect, identify and quantify multi-bacterial cells on a SERS substrate. Nanoparticle contaminants are a recent focus in my lab, we have successfully developed several SERS methods to detect silver nanoparticles and titanium dioxide nanoparticles in complex matrices.
Learn more at He's Advanced Analytical Lab
Academic Background
2004 BS Plant Protection, Zhejiang University, China
2006 MS Plant Pathology, Zhejiang University, China
2009 PhD Food Science, University of Missouri-Columbia
2009-2012 Postdoc Food Science, University of Minnesota
