Heidí Leonard

Currently: R&D Program Manager at Potomac Photonics in Halethorpe, MD

Previously: Head of R&D at Pathotrak, Inc in College Park, MD.

Previously: I was an NRC postdoc in the Material Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

I received my BA in chemistry with a minor in mathematics from Pomona College in Claremont, California. I then explored silicon nanomaterials with Prof. Michael Sailor at the University of California, San Diego, where I received my masters in chemistry. After an interesting turn of events, I earned my PhD in Biotechnology & Food Engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology under the joint supervision of Prof. Ester Segal and Dr. Sarel Halachmi (Department of Urology at Bnai Zion Medical Center), where I transformed photonic crystals into an antimicrobial susceptibility test.

My research interests focus on merging nanomaterials and spectroscopy with infectious disease diagnostics, biointerfaces, and microbiology.