Biography

Dr Leanne Harris graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2001 with a primary degree in Natural Sciences, specializing in Zoology. From there she completed her MSc in University College Dublin in 2002 and received her PhD in Biological Sciences from the DIT in 2006 which focused on the development of immunodiagnostics and molecular assays for pathogen detection in shellfish. She moved to DCU in 2007 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute with Prof. Anthony J. Killard where her research involved the development of point-of-care coagulation-based assays and devices. She returned to the DIT in October 2013 as a Lecturer in Cell and Molecular Biology.

Qualifications

BA (Mod) Natural Sciences, MSc, PhD Biological Sciences (PG Dip TLLT)

Research Themes

Point-of-Care Diagnostics in CVD

Keywords

Point-of-Care Diagnostics; assay development; immunodiagnostics; antithrombotic therapy; biosensors; clinical testing

Key Publications

Harris, L., Rainey, P., O’Donnell, J. S., Lindahl, T. L. and Killard, A.J. A fully integrated microfluidic device for point-of-care monitoring of antithrombotics. Analytical Methods. (2016) 8, 6500-6505.

Harris, L., Rainey, P., Castro-López, V., O’Donnell, J. S. and Killard, A.J. 2013. A microfluidic anti-Factor Xa assay device for point of care monitoring of anticoagulation therapy. Analyst. (2013) 138, 4695-5158.

Harris, L., Castro-López, V., P. Vince, Jenkins, O’Donnell, J. S. and Killard, A.J. Comparison of a fluorogenic anti-FXa assay with a central laboratory chromogenic anti-FXa assay for measuring LMWH activity in patient plasmas. Thrombosis Research. (2011) 128, e125-e129.

Professional Memberships

• Member of the Royal Society of Biology (RSB)
• Member of the All Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE)
• Editorial Board Member of BAOJ Clinical Trials

External Activities/Outreach

• Reviewer for the following peer reviewed journals: AISHE-J, Analyst, Analytical Chemistry and BOAJ Urology and Nephrology.
• SciFest Judge for the LifeSciences category 2016-2017
• Guest speaker at Perspectives in Education LTTC Education Seminars March 2016

Research and Academic Interests

As a lecturer in Cell and Molecular Biology in the School of Biological Sciences, DIT I teach across 17 modules, both within the school and across the Schools of Physics and Chemistry. I am an enthusiastic lecturer with a strong pedagogical foundation at the core of my teaching. designing and delivering lectures, practicals, tutorials and workshops at all NQAI framework levels. I aim to bring an innovative holistic approach to teaching, by focusing not only on Lifelong learning but also on Lifewide learning. My goal is to create an enabling environment that enriches student learning, enhances student creativity and continuously improves upon the student experience.
My scientific research interests include haemostasis and coagulation, monitoring thrombotic disorders, point of care (POC) testing, and disease diagnostics including molecular and immunodiagnostics. As a biomedical researcher in one of the largest SFI funded CSETs, the Biomedical Diagnostic Institute (BDI), I developed next-generation POC devices for monitoring therapy in cardiovascular disorders. I have a strong publication profile with a total of 19 peer-reviewed publications (1 in submission) and 14 publications as lead author (front cover article for Issue 17 of Analyst 2013; Analytical Chemistry Review Top10 most downloaded in 2012). In addition to my scientific research, I have embarked on the development of a second strand of research with its foundations in pedagogy. I am interested in technology in the classroom with an emphasis on student response systems, in addition to feedback and assessment, both with a focus on the large cohorts of first year students.
As a researcher in DCU, I engaged and collaborated, with both national and international industry, as well as clinical partners and funding bodies, including Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. My research in diagnostics afforded me the opportunity to become involved in a collaborative research project for the development of a POC device for monitoring heparin therapy using electrochemical impedance, where my role was to lead the assay development component of the project. Industrial partners involved included Analog Devices (Limerick, Ireland), world renowned for their high performance signal processing technologies, and Hospira International (Chicago, USA), the world’s leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies. I developed a strong collaboration with Prof. James O’Donnell in the National Centre for Hereditary Coagulation Disorders (NCHCD) in St. James Hospital, Dublin, working on the development of a novel anti-FXa specific POC device for anticoagulant monitoring. As part of this project in 2013, I engaged in a research collaboration with CLARITY, a joint DCU-UCD-Tyndall CSET working on the development of electrogenic substrates for coagulation assays.
In addition to partnering with industry my research also involved collaborations with clinicians on the optimisation of coagulation assays with the Rotunda Hospital for clinical applications, and Epona Biotech for equine applications, using technology previously developed in BDI (Patent EP2421649 A1 entitled ‘A lateral flow assay device for coagulation monitoring and method thereof’). My most recent publication in Analytical Methods (August 2016) resulted from a collaboration on the development of POC coagulation devices with Prof. Tomas Lindahl in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Sweden.