Team

Ross graduated from the University of York with a degree in biochemistry and holds a PhD in Biomolecular Science from the University of Manchester where he gained his passion for protein engineering. Prior to joining Leaf Expression Systems, Ross worked for 16 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a molecular biologist, protein biochemist and project manager, supporting early phase discovery projects across many different therapeutic areas. During his time in large pharma, Ross gained experience working with recombinant protein production from different expression systems (insect cells, HEK293, E. coli) and used a range of protein purification technologies to generate reagents for biochemical and biophysical assays, structural biology and antibody development. At Leaf, Ross leads the downstream processing and quality control activities. He is involved with planning and coordinating new projects, working closely with clients and collaborators to produce reagents for diagnostic applications, research activities and novel therapeutics.

Nick graduated from the University of Otago with a PhD in Biochemistry. He has extensive postdoctoral experience working on the biochemistry and function of plant membrane receptors and has also worked for many years with Agrobacterium and Nicotiana species.

Leanne graduated from the University of the West of England with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology and holds a PhD in plant biology from Imperial College London. Leanne has over 10 years’ experience working in the life sciences sector in both commercial and academic settings. Prior to working at Leaf, Leanne worked as a product manager in the biotech sector and a post-doctoral research fellow. Leanne’s research interests include protein-protein interactions and post-translational modifications controlling both development and pathogen resistance in plants. She has extensive experience in plant protein expression and purification from her time in academia. From a commercial aspect, Leanne has experience of managing a large commercial portfolio and identifying new and emerging key products to bring value to a portfolio. Throughout her career Leanne has developed a passion for the novel use of plants as bioreactors for producing biologics. At Leaf, Leanne is responsible for the development of new business partnerships and is involved in managing client relationships and projects.

Albor Dobon-Alonso originally from Spain graduated from the UPV (Valencia, Spain) with an MSc. Eng. in Agronomy. He obtained a PhD in Plant Biotechnology in Dr Pablo Tornerois lab at the IBMCP (Valencia, Spain) studying plant pathogen interaction in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. After a short postdoc with Professor Pablo Vera he was awarded with a Marie Curie IEF Fellowship to work in the Professor Cristobal Uauy’s Lab at the John Innes Centre where he studied yellow rust disease in wheat, focused in effector discovery. After that, he has been involved in several projects, including exploring the plant production of VLPs in Professor George Lomonossoff’s Lab.

Albor joined Leaf Expression Systems in July 2018 and is the Senior Molecular Biologist of the company.