Rate My Professor Maolin Lu

Maolin Lu, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center School of Medicine, where she joined the faculty in June 2021. She earned her PhD in Photochemical Sciences from Bowling Green State University in 2014, MS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2009, and BS in Biological Engineering from the same institution in 2006. Following her doctoral training, she conducted postdoctoral research in Microbial Pathogenesis at Yale University School of Medicine from 2015 to 2021 in the Walther Mothes Laboratory, specializing in virology. At UT Tyler, she leads the Maolin Lu Laboratory, teaches courses such as BIOT 5221 and 5132, co-directs the UT Tyler School of Medicine Summer Research and Clinical Externship program, mentors students and postdoctoral fellows, serves on NIH study sections, reviews for over a dozen professional journals, co-chairs international conferences, and delivers invited talks at conferences, institutions, and grand rounds.

Dr. Lu's multidisciplinary research integrates biophysical imaging, virology, molecular biology, structural biology, biochemistry, and computational biology to elucidate virus-host interactions for pathogens including HIV-1, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and HSV. Her lab investigates viral surface spike protein-mediated membrane fusion for host cell entry, antibody recognition and immune evasion mechanisms, modes of action of viral inhibitors, development of single-molecule technologies, and roles of host factors in viral entry. Key publications include 'Associating HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein structures with states on the virus observed by smFRET' in Nature (2019), 'Real-time conformational dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 spikes on virus particles' in Cell Host & Microbe (2020), 'Live imaging of SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice reveals that neutralizing antibodies require Fc function for optimal efficacy' in Immunity (2021), 'Conformational trajectory of the HIV-1 fusion peptide during CD4-induced envelope opening' in Nature Communications (2025), and 'RSV vaccine development: advances and fusion protein-focused strategies' in Frontiers in Immunology (2026). Her research is funded by NIH R35 MIRA ($1.8 million, first at UT Tyler), R01 ($2.2 million), R56, UT System STARs, Gilead Sciences, and amfAR. Awards include the 2025 UT System STARs Award, 2024 UT Tyler School of Medicine Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research, 2022 Gilead Research Scholar, 2021 and 2019 amfAR Mathilde Krim Fellowships, and 2021 UT System Rising STARs Award.