About

Lei Wang is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering in the College of Engineering and Biology at Northeastern University, joining the university in January 2024. She completed her postdoctoral training in the Biological Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she specialized in mammalian synthetic biology, focusing on genetically programming human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to differentiate into desired cell fates inspired by natural differentiation processes. Her Ph.D. work concentrated on microfluidics and biosensors, developing a tumor-on-chip model to study anti-cancer drug efficacy and creating an ultra-sensitive biosensor for viral infection detection. Her research develops mammalian synthetic biology tools to advance anti-cancer cellular therapy, regenerative medicine, and microfluidic human organ models. She has received notable honors including the NIH NIBIB Trailblazer Award in 2025 and is a fellow of the MIT LEAPS program. Her work includes developing programmable RNA-based sensors for in situ cell type detection and response, aiming to create precise targeted therapies for diseases such as cancer.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Machine Learning
• Theoretical computer science
• Data Mining
• Engineering
• Speech recognition
• Computer vision
• Mathematics

Selected publications

• Ultrabroadband Low‐Frequency Microwave Absorption in Multiscale Aerogel‐Metamaterial Hybrids

  Advanced Functional Materials · 2026-01-28 · 8 citations

  articleCorresponding

  ABSTRACT The increasing demand for lightweight electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing monoliths, particularly those capable of absorbing both low‐frequency and broadband EMWs, presents a significant challenge. While dielectric nanostructured aerogels have demonstrated high potential and advancements, a gap remains in the development of aerogel‐based EMW absorbers to achieve effective low‐frequency and broadband absorption. Here, we present a multiscale engineering strategy for fabricating aerogel‐metamaterial hybrids, addressing key challenges such as broad bandwidth, low‐frequency absorption, and high load‐bearing capacity. The proposed absorber consists of a simulation‐assisted additive‐manufactured thin‐walled enclosure embedded with graphene/nanocellulose aerogels, which feature an effective conductive network and abundant heterogeneous interfaces. This multiscale design enables exceptional EMW absorption across the entire 2–18 GHz band, achieving 100% bandwidth coverage, with stable performance under wide oblique incidence (up to 60°) and polarization (both transverse electric and transverse magnetic). Furthermore, the absorber exhibits a low areal density of 2.714 kg m −2 and can withstand at least 95 kg of out‐of‐plane load. These advancements highlight the potential for developing lightweight, novel EMW‐absorbing aerogel metamaterials for low‐frequency, ultrabroadband electromagnetic compatibility and aerospace applications.

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary document for Ultra-wideband optically transparent radar-absorbing composite metastructure with embedded multilayer frequency selective surfaces - 7799961.pdf

  Figshare · 2026-04-07

  articleOpen access

  SI-Manuscript-Resubmit

  PublisherDOI

• Thin-thickness 3D-printed dielectric loss multi-layer nested ultra broadband radar absorbing metastructure with wide incident angle

  Composites Science and Technology · 2026-04-10 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Fractal-informed predictive theoretical framework and design strategy for structured absorbers

  Composites Part A Applied Science and Manufacturing · 2026-05-12

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Study on Collapse Mechanism and Collapse Resistance Evaluation Method for Crossed Cable-Truss Spoke Structure

  Buildings · 2026-04-23

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  The new crossed cable-truss spoke structure (CCTSS) significantly improves the lateral stiffness and integral stability of the ordinary spoke cable-truss structure, but it still has the shortcomings of general tensile structures, like low redundancy and weak collapse resistance. Its collapse resistance is still unclear. In the paper, the structural characteristics of CCTSS are introduced. Secondly, the influence of initial prestresses on the collapse performance of CCTSS is studied. Then the collapse response features and collapse mechanism of the members and joints of CCTSS are revealed under the actions of no loads, full-span loads and half-span loads. Finally, a calculation method of the dynamic force amplification coefficient is proposed based on the collapse results of CCTSS, and a calculation method of the importance of members and joints is further proposed based on the dynamic internal force amplification coefficient, which indirectly evaluates structural collapse resistance. The results show that CCTSS has good local collapse resistance, but the failure of ring cables and joints at the ring cables will cause the structure to lose its integral bearing capacity. Meanwhile, the proposed calculation method of the importance of components and joints has a simple calculation process and is convenient to utilize, which has good engineering application value. The research content provides a theoretical basis and analysis method for structural safety design.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Supplementary document for Ultra-wideband optically transparent radar-absorbing composite metastructure with embedded multilayer frequency selective surfaces - 7799961.pdf

  Figshare · 2026-04-07

  articleOpen access

  SI-Manuscript-Resubmit

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary document for Ultra-wideband optically transparent radar-absorbing composite metastructure with embedded multilayer frequency selective surfaces - 7799961.pdf

  Figshare · 2026-04-07

  articleOpen access

  SI-Manuscript-Resubmit

  PublisherDOI

• Ultra-wideband optically transparent radar-absorbing composite metastructure with embedded multilayer frequency selective surfaces

  Optics Express · 2026-02-11

  articleOpen access

  Existing transparent metamaterial absorbers (MMAs) encounter a persistent challenge in reconciling low-frequency wideband radar-absorbing with high optically transparency. This study develops a multi-objective genetic algorithm integrated with a refined hexagonal electromagnetic model based on skewed periodic boundaries, incorporating the constraints of the bandwidth and total thickness of the optically transparent radar-absorbing composite metastructures (OTRACM). A 3D-printed framework-assisted resin infusion method is proposed for OTRACM, featuring functional units composed of embedded multilayer quartz glass thin plates pasted with patterned indium tin oxide (ITO) hexagonal ring patterned frequency selective surfaces (PFSS). The optimized OTRACM achieves reflectivity below -10 dB across 2.3∼18 GHz with 72.33% visible-light transmittance, while its effective absorption bandwidth covers S, C, and X bands for target detection and the Ku band for terminal guidance. Moreover, OTRACM exhibits exceptional multi-angle stability in its radar-absorbing performance, maintaining strong absorption for both TE and TM polarizations at incidence angles up to 45°. Owing to its superior integrated performance, OTRACM exhibits promising application potential in military stealth technology, electromagnetic information security, and protection of civilian electronic devices.

  PublisherDOI

• Ceramic Aerogel Composite Metastructure with 3D Large Deformation for Thermal Insulation

  Advanced Functional Materials · 2025-07-16 · 8 citations

  articleCorresponding

  Abstract Ceramic aerogels have become the most commonly used materials in high‐temperature thermal insulation systems because of their thermal stability. However, the inherent brittleness limits their application under harsh thermomechanical conditions, such as morphing aircraft and inflatable decelerators. Herein, high‐temperature resistant ceramic aerogel composite metastructures with 3D large deformation by introducing the concept of origami are designed and prepared, and their mechanical and thermal properties are investigated. The prepared ceramic aerogel composite exhibits 158% ultrahigh uniaxial tensile fracture strain and remains intact after 60 cycles to 80% tensile strain, with excellent fatigue resistance. They can also achieve an unprecedented in‐plane biaxial strain of 455%, and the ratio of the out‐of‐plane bulging height to the typical feature size is 0.94. Owing to their low thermal conductivity (0.0376 W m −1 K −1 ) and excellent thermal stability (1200 °C), the ceramic aerogel composites still maintain large‐deformation performance in high‐temperature environments. Thus, the large‐deformation ceramic aerogel composite metastructures are suitable for complex and diverse deformation fields, addressing current limitations.

  PublisherDOI

• Research on the Construction of Intelligent Data Evaluation System Based on Network Communication Evaluation Model in Cloud Computing Environment

  2025-06-28

  article

  This paper proposes an innovative network communication performance prediction algorithm based on deep learning, and designs an intelligent data evaluation system for real-time network performance evaluation in cloud computing environment. By analyzing the network traffic data in cloud computing environment and using deep learning model, the system can accurately predict key network performance indicators such as bandwidth, delay, and packet loss rate. The proposed algorithm combines the deep learning architecture of MLP and CNN, thereby improving the prediction ability of complex network environment. Experimental results show that under different network load and bandwidth conditions, the model can maintain a high prediction accuracy, and the prediction error is controlled within 5%, which is about 20% higher than the traditional network communication evaluation method. In addition, the designed intelligent data evaluation system can reflect the dynamic changes of network performance in real time and has strong adaptability. Experiments show that the system can maintain good performance in complex environments with high concurrency and low latency, and can provide real-time and accurate performance feedback for the optimization and maintenance of cloud computing platforms.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Yun Fu

  47 shared

• Can Qin

  17 shared

• Zhengming Ding

  Tulane University

  17 shared

• Qinghua Han

  University of Washington

  15 shared

• Yue Bai

  Northeastern University

  11 shared

• Yunyu Liu

  Tianjin Agricultural University

  9 shared

• Gan Sun

  9 shared

• Yan Lu

  China National Petroleum Corporation (China)

  8 shared

Education

• Ph. D., Electrical & Computer Engineering

  Northeastern University

  2021

• Master of Science in Engineering, Electronic and Information Engineering

  Xi'an Jiaotong University

  2016

• Bachelor of Engineering, Electrical Engineering

  Harbin Institute of Technology

  2013

Awards & honors

• NIH NIBIB Trailblazer Award (2025)
• MIT LEAPS Fellow (2022)