Mihaela Leonida

Mihaela Leonida

Professor of Chemistry and Physics, Pre-professional and Graduate School Advisor, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics,
Metropolitan Campus

Contact Information

Courses

• Biochemistry (undergraduate and graduate)
• Enzymology (graduate)
• Analytical Chemistry (lecture and laboratory)
• Organic Chemistry (lecture and laboratory)
• Science and Art

Research

• Protein stabilization and enzyme “wiring”

• Bioactive nanocomposite materials for natural products encapsulation and delivery materials and techniques used by medieval artists conservation of art materials detection of art forgeries

Education

• MS, Chemical Engineering, Polytechnic University of Bucharest
• PhD, Chemical Engineering, Polytechnic University of Bucharest
• PhD, Chemistry, Wesleyan University

Academic Profile

My research interests go in several directions due to the exciting world we live in and how it exposes us to new things every day. One area is the stabilization of catalytic proteins (enzymes). Several strategies to achieve this were reported by my lab, among which the “molecular wiring” of oxidoreductases was reported for the first time. The modified enzymes reported performed successfully in biosensors for medical and environmental applications and in the synthesis of compounds of interest for the pharmaceutical industry. Nanocomposite materials based on natural compounds are another topic of interest for me. My lab reported syntheses of composites with antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiproliferative activity. They were tested, with promising results, for their potential as drug/protein delivery systems and as additives to cosmetic formulations for the skin. I am also interested in the materials and techniques used by medieval artists. I try to find and study little known sources available describing traditional methods of synthesis, techniques, and conservation aspects. Over the years I authored/co-authored 12 books and chapters in books, 74 published papers, 110 oral presentations at conferences, and gave 41 invited full-length lectures at different venues. My scholarly activity received international recognition as follows: Visiting Professor, Universite de Quebec a Montreal (2003 and 2017), Visiting Professor, Universite de Nantes (2004), Fulbright Senior Fellow (2010), Fulbright Specialist (2017-2020). I was also the recipient of the FDU Distinguished Faculty Award for Research (2019).