Professor Zoya Leonenko

Zoya Leonenko is a well-known expert in biophysics and scanning probe microscopy and is the author of over 90 scientific publications and several book chapters.

Zoya leads a nanoscale biophysics research group at the University of Waterloo, Canada. She uses advanced scanning probe microscopy and other biophysical methods, such atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), nanoscale electrophysiology, plasmonic sensing with SPR, to study biophysics of lipids and lipid-protein interactions, interactions of nanoparticles with lipid membrane and monolayers, and to develop novel application of lipid films in biomedical nanotechnology. Her team provided significant advancement of knowledge in understanding the role of nanoscale structure of lipid membrane in molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recently together with collaborators she initiated a new research program in quantum biology, which has a focus to uncover new quantum phenomena in biology and neuroscience.

Zoya Leonenko

Recent AFM-related papers:

• McRae D. M. & Leonenko Z. (2024) Applications of scanning probe microscopy in neuroscience research J. Phys. Mater. 7 012004

• Robinson M., Filice C. T., McRae D. M & Leonenko Z. (2023) Atomic force microscopy and other scanning probe microscopy methods to study nanoscale domains in model lipid membranes Advances in Physics: X 8 (1)

• Robinson, M., Lou, J., Mehrazma, B., Rauk, A., Beazely, M. & Leonenko, Z. (2021) Pseudopeptide Amyloid Aggregation Inhibitors: In Silico, Single Molecule and Cell Viability Studies Int. J. Mol. Sci. 22 1051

• Henderson R. D. E., Filice C. T., Wettig S & Leonenko. Z. (2021) Kelvin probe force microscopy to study electrostatic interactions of DNA with lipid-gemini surfactant monolayers for gene delivery Soft Matter 17, 826-833

• Drolle E., Ngo W., Leonenko Z., Subbaraman L & Jones L. (2020) Nanoscale Characteristics of Ocular Lipid Thin Films Using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy Translational Vision Science and Technology 9(7), 41

Biography: Zoya has PhD in Chemical Physics and is a Professor at University of Waterloo, Canada. She holds a joint position in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Biology and is a member of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN). Zoya joined the University of Waterloo in 2007. Prior to this, she worked at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, USA and the University of Calgary, Canada as an Assistant Professor. She was also a recipient of an Invited Professorship Award from the University of Burgundy, Dijon, France in 2012 and NSERC University Faculty Award in 2008-2012 and currently holds University Research Chair Award. Leonenko’s laboratory is supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) and Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) among other grants. She has made a significant impact on the establishment and subsequent rapid rise of the Biophysical Society of Canada (BSC) by organizing its very first annual meeting at Waterloo in 2015 and served as its President in 2019-2021.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoya-leonenko-0b4444a4/

Webpage: https://uwaterloo.ca/leonenko-research-group/profile/zoya-leonenko