Leanne Harris

Dr Leanne Harris is a lecturer in Cell and Molecular Biology in the School of Biological, Health and Sports Sciences since 2013. Leanne graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a primary degree in BA (Mod) Natural Sciences followed by an MSc (Agr ERM) from UCD. Leanne was awarded her PhD in Biological Sciences from DIT which focused on the development of immunodiagnostics and molecular assays for pathogen detection in shellfish. Leanne moved to DCU in 2007 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute where her research involved the development of next generation point-of-care coagulation-based assays and devices. As a researcher in DCU, she engaged and collaborated, with both national and international industry, as well as clinical partners and funding bodies, including Enterprise Ireland and SFI. Her research in diagnostics afforded her the opportunity to become involved in multiple collaborative research projects as lead researcher in assay development. She is a member of the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) and the All Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE). Leanne teaches across many programmes within the school, has acted as year tutor and programme chair, engages in teaching and learning research and is actively involved in community engagement and outreach.

I am an enthusiastic lecturer, teaching from first year through to PhD level with a strong pedagogical foundation at the core of my teaching. 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. As an Learning Teaching and Assessment (LTA) affiliate I actively engage and share in best practice across teaching, learning and assessment in third level. In my current role as programme chair of the BSc (Hons) Biomedical and Molecular Diagnostics Programme I support programme development, academic quality in teaching learning and assessment but also have the privilege of providing pastoral care to students on their acadmeic journey through TU Dublin.

Leanne's 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 she worked in one of the largest SFI funded CSETs (Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology), the Biomedical Diagnostic Institute (BDI) developing next-generation POC devices for monitoring therapy in cardiovascular disorders. Current research is focused on the development of diagnostic assays for monitoring anticoagulant therapy at the POC. Work includes research into coagulation assays including, clot-based, chromogenic, fluorogenic, and electrochemical-based technologies, encompassing assay development, clinical testing, and validating new techniques against international standards. Her research focuses on polymer microsystems and microfluidic device technology and seeing how these could be integrated with bioassays to make viable point of care devices.