معرفی
Aaron Leconte is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Scripps College, part of the Claremont Colleges consortium. He holds a B.A. from Carleton College (2004), a Ph.D. from the Scripps Research Institute (2009), and completed an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University (2012). His research focuses on engineering proteins using directed evolution and biochemical insights for applications in medicine and biotechnology. He teaches courses including CHEM14L, CHEM29L, CHEM40L, CHEM125L, CHEM127L, CHEM177/BIO177, and CHEM180.
His research emphasizes optimizing bioluminescent tools and mutant DNA polymerases for modified nucleic acid synthesis. Key contributions include improving accuracy in 2’ fluoro-modified nucleic acid amplification and developing luciferases through Statistical Coupling Analysis. His work bridges biochemical experimentation with practical biotechnological outcomes.
Dr. Leconte has received prestigious awards such as the NSF CAREER Award ($400,000) and NIH R15 Award ($362,752), focusing on high-throughput luciferase engineering and polymerase fidelity. He leads the Leconte Group, whose research is showcased at https://sites.google.com/view/lecontegroup/home.
His advising and grant activities include mentoring undergraduate researchers and securing funding for equipment like fluorimeters and biomolecular gel imagers. Collaborative projects include systemic change initiatives in STEM education and inviting distinguished scholars like Prof. David R. Liu to Claremont.
