Jacques Lux, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
- School
- Medical School
- Department
- Radiology | Biomedical Engineering
- Graduate Programs
- Organic Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Jacques Lux obtained his PhD in chemistry at the University of Strasbourg under the guidance of Nobel Prize laureate Jean-Pierre Sauvage. His Ph.D. projects aimed at designing and developing synthetic molecular machines reminiscent of biological systems. Following his Ph.D., Dr. Lux conducted postdoctoral research at the faculty of pharmacy in Strasbourg, where he developed activatable optical probes for the detection of viral RNA. He then came to the U.S. to train in supramolecular chemistry in Professor Julius Rebek Jr.’s laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Dr. Lux received another postdoc opportunity at UCSD applying his skills in organic and coordination chemistry to the field of material science, and then became a Research Scientist to develop and translate theranostics for imaging and drug delivery.
While at UCSD, he designed and synthetized a novel MR contrast agent that incorporated gadolinium that was chelated and linked to hydrogel nanoparticles (nanogels). The advantage of this strategy is not only the development of high relaxivity T1 agents, but also minimizing demetallation. The versatility of this platform was demonstrated by incorporating 64Cu instead of gadolinium that allowed for in vivo PET/CT imaging of cancer. Dr. Lux also participated in the development of novel activatable optical nanoprobes for the detection of inflammation.
He recently joined the newly established Translational Research in Ultrasound Theranostics (TRUST) program at UT Southwestern in the Department of Radiology focusing on the development of targeted and activatable ultrasound (US) agents that not only aid in cancer detection, but also under US control, release drugs and/or destroy tumors with high intensity focused ultrasound.