Dr. Heidi Leonard is analytical and materials chemist by training with a passion for tackling problems in microbiology and biotechnology.

After her postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, she joined a startup as Head of R&D and sailed into the business development and food safety realm. In 2022, she joined a manufacturing company to direct the R&D team in the development of microfluidic devices and biosensors primarily for biotech startups. She earned her PhD in Biotechnology and Food Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology where she developed rapid methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Her technology now resides in one of the largest Israeli medical centers for daily use. Prior to her international venture, Dr. Leonard earned her MS in chemistry at the University of California, San Diego while developing silicon-based therapeutics. She serves as president of the Mid-Atlantic Micro/Nano Alliance.