Personal Bio 

Juan decided to pursue Chemistry due to its interdisciplinary nature, which gave him the opportunity to also learn biology, physics, and computational sciences throughout his research. During his free time, he enjoys biking, cooking, and messing around with his 3D printer.

Research Summary 

Juan is a Post-Doctoral Fellow joining Dr. Xiao’s lab in 2025. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Florida International University, during which he focused on the isolation of DNA aptamers against drugs of abuse such as fentanyl. Afterward, he pursued a postdoctoral appointment at the FDA, utilizing aptamers for the ex vivo manufacturing of Natural Killer cells for use in CAR-NK therapies. Finally, he has arrived at the Xiao lab, where he will work on isolating DNA aptamers against ultra-low epitope molecules and utilize neural networks to engineer higher-performance aptamers.

Publications List

  • Yu H., Canoura J., Byrd C., Alkhamis O., Bacon A., Yan A., Sullenger B., & Xiao Y. (2025). Improving Aptamer Affinity and Determining Sequence-Activity Relationships via Motif-SELEX. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147, 9472–9486.
  • Canoura J., Alkhamis O., Byrd C., Wang L., Bryant A., & Xiao Y. (2024). Determining the Precision of High-Throughput Sequencing and Its Influence on Aptamer Selection. Anal. Chem. 96, 17720–17729.
  • Canoura J., Alkhamis O., Venzke M., Ly P. T., & Xiao Y. (2024). Developing Aptamer-Based Colorimetric Opioid Tests. JACS Au. 4, 1059–1072.
  • Wang L., Canoura J., Byrd C., Nguyen T., Alkhamis O., Ly P., & Xiao Y. (2024). Examining the Relationship between Aptamer Complexity and Molecular Discrimination of a Low-Epitope Target. ACS Cent. Sci. 10, 2213–2228.
  • Yang K., Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Bryant A., Gong E. M., Barbu M., Taylor S., Nikic D., Banerjee S., Xiao Y., Stojanovic M., & Landry, D. W. (2024). Exploring the Landscape of Aptamers: From Cross-Reactive to Selective to Specific, High-Affinity Receptors for Cocaine. JACS Au. 4, 760–770.
  • Canoura J., Nguyen T., Byrd C., Hill R., Liu Y.Z., & Xiao Y. (2024). Generation of High-Affinity Aptamers for Indazole Synthetic Cannabinoids. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 96, 11488–11497.
  • Yang K., Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Bryant A., Gong E., Barbu M., Taylor S., Nikic D., Banerjee S., Xiao Y., Stojanovic M., & Landry D. (2023). Exploring the Landscape of Aptamers: From Cross-Reactive to Selective to Specific, High-Affinity Receptors for Cocaine. JACS Au. 4, 760–770.
  • Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Wu Y., Emmons N., Wang Y., Honeywell K., Plaxco K., Kippin T., & Xiao Y. (2023). High-Affinity Aptamers for In Vitro and In Vivo Cocaine Sensing. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 3230–3240.
  • Canoura J., Liu Y. Z., Alkhamis O., & Xiao Y. (2023). Aptamer-Based Fentanyl Detection in Biological Fluids. Anal. Chem. 95, 18258–18267.
  • Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Ly P.T., & Xiao Y. (2023). Using Exonuclease for Aptamer Characterization, Engineering, and Sensing. Acc. Chem. Res. 56, 1731–1743.
  • Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Willis C., Wang L.L., Perry J., & Xiao Y. (2023). Comparison of Aptamer Signaling Mechanisms Reveals Disparities in Sensor Response and Strategies to Eliminate False Signals. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145, 12407–12422.
  • Canoura J., Liu Y.Z., Perry J., Willis C., & Xiao Y. (2023). A Suite of Aptamer-Based Sensors for the Detection of Fentanyl and Its Analogs. ACS Sensors 8, 1901–1911.
  • Canoura J., Liu Y.Z., Alkhamis O., Willis C., & Xiao Y. (2023). High-Throughput Quantitative Binding Analysis of DNA Aptamers Using Exonucleases. Nucleic Acids Res. 51, e19.
  • Jin X., Liu Y.Z., Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Bacon A., Xu R.Y., Fu F.F., & Xiao Y. (2022). Near-Infrared Dye-Aptamer Assay for Small Molecule Detection in Complex Specimens. Anal. Chem. 94, 10082–10090.
  • Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Bukhryakov K.V., Tarifa A., DeCaprio A.P., & Xiao Y. (2022). DNA Aptamer-Cyanine Complexes as Generic Colorimetric Small-Molecule Sensors. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 61, e202112305.
  • Liu Y.Z., Liu X.T., Alkhamis O., Yu H.X., Canoura J., & Xiao Y. (2021). Aptamer-Integrated Paper Electrochemical Device for Multi-Analyte Detection. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13, 17330–17339.
  • Liu Y.Z., Canoura J., Alkhamis O., & Xiao Y. (2021). Immobilization Strategies for Enhancing Sensitivity of Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13, 9491–9499.
  • Yu H.X., Luo Y.P., Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Yu B.Y., & Xiao Y. (2021). Isolation of Natural DNA Aptamers for Challenging Small-Molecule Targets – Cannabinoids. Anal. Chem. 93, 3172–3180.
  • Yu H.X., Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Liu Y.Z., & Xiao Y. (2021). Advances and Challenges in Small-Molecule Aptamer Isolation, Characterization and Sensing. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 133, 2–26.
  • Canoura J., Yu H.X., Alkhamis O., Roncancio R., Farhana R., & Xiao Y. (2021). Accelerating Post-SELEX Aptamer Engineering Using Exonuclease Digestion. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 143, 805–816.
  • Alkhamis O., Yang W.J., Farhana R., Yu H.X., & Xiao Y. (2020). Label-Free Profiling of DNA Aptamer-Small Molecule Binding Using T5 Exonuclease. Nucleic Acids Res. 48, e120.
  • Liu Y.Z., Yu H.X., Alkhamis O., Moliver J., & Xiao Y. (2020). Tuning Biosensor Cross-Reactivity Using Aptamer Mixtures. Anal. Chem. 92, 5041–5047.
  • Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Yu H.X., Liu Y.Z., & Xiao Y. (2019). Innovative Engineering and Sensing Strategies for Aptamer-Based Small-Molecule Detection. Trends Anal. Chem. 121, 115699.
  • Yang W.J., Yu H.X., Alkhamis O., Liu Y.Z., Canoura J., Fu F.F., & Xiao Y. (2019). In Vitro Isolation of Class-Specific Oligonucleotide-Based Small-Molecule Receptors. Nucleic Acids Res. 47, e71.
  • Luo Y.P., Yu H.X., Alkhamis O., Liu Y.Z., Lou X.H., Yu B.Y., & Xiao Y. (2019). Label-Free, Visual Detection of Small Molecules Using Highly Target-Responsive Multi-Module Split Aptamer Constructs. Anal. Chem. 91, 7199–7207.
  • Canoura J., Wang Z.W., Yu H.X., Alkhamis O., Fu F.F., & Xiao Y. (2018). No Structure-Switching Required: A Generalizable Exonuclease-Mediated Aptamer-Based Assay for Small-Molecule Detection. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 140, 9961–9971.
  • Wang Z.W., Yu H.X., Canoura J., Liu Y.Z., Alkhamis O., Fu F.F., & Xiao Y. (2018). Introducing Structure-Switching Functionality into Small-Molecule-Binding Aptamers via Nuclease-Directed Truncation. Nucleic Acids Res. 46, e81.
  • Yu H.X., Yang W.J., Alkhamis O., Canoura J., Yang K., & Xiao Y. (2018). In Vitro Isolation of Small-Molecule-Binding Aptamers with Intrinsic Dye-Displacement Functionality. Nucleic Acids Res. 46, e43.
  • Yu H.X., Canoura J., Guntupalli B., Alkhamis O., & Xiao Y. (2018). Sensitive Detection of Small-Molecule Targets Using Cooperative Binding Split Aptamers and Enzyme-Assisted Target Recycling. Anal. Chem. 90, 1748–1758.
  • Liang P.P., Canoura J., Yu H.X., Alkhamis O., & Xiao Y. (2018). Dithiothreitol-Regulated Coverage of Oligonucleotide-Modified Gold Nanoparticles to Achieve Optimized Biosensor Performance. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 10, 4233–4242.
  • Yu H.X., Canoura J., Guntupalli B., Lou X.H., & Xiao Y. (2017). A Cooperative-Binding Split Aptamer Assay for Rapid, Specific and Ultra-Sensitive Fluorescence Detection of Cocaine in Saliva. Chem. Sci. 8, 131–141.
  • Guntupalli B., Liang P.P., Lee J.H., Yang Y.H., Yu H.X., Canoura J., He J., Li W.Z., Weizmann Y., & Xiao Y. (2015). Ambient Filtration Method to Rapidly Prepare Highly Conductive, Paper-Based Porous Gold Films for Electrochemical Biosensing. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7, 27049–27058.
  • Liang P.P., Yu H.X., Guntupalli B., & Xiao Y. (2015). Paper-Based Device for Rapid Visualization of NADH Based on Dissolution of Gold Nanoparticles. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7, 15023–15030.