Joshua N. Leonard

The paper develops CAMPs, genetically inducible receptors to control cytokine signaling in T cells, to study motility and signaling pathways without paracrine interference.

CELLISA is a cell-cell binding assay that accelerates discovery of EV targeting constructs by predicting cell-EV interactions through high-throughput screening of cell surface-displayed proteins.

The paper develops an assay to distinguish pseudotransduction from true transduction in EV-AAV vectors, revealing cell-type-specific effects of EV modifications on transduction efficiency.

This paper introduces a computational framework for designing mammalian genetic programs using genetic algorithms and dynamical systems models, demonstrating its ability to find optimal circuit designs and validate them experimentally.

The paper develops synthetic cytokine receptors by repurposing natural ectodomains to create orthogonal biosensors for targeted cellular responses.

This study enhances synthetic hypoxia biosensors by integrating natural hypoxia-responsive factors and feedback circuits to improve their performance and understanding of hypoxia regulation.

This study uses computational structure prediction to explore how structural features of engineered receptors relate to their functional performance.

The paper develops and optimizes a one-pot NASBA-Cas13a assay for rapid, sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA without specialized equipment.

This study develops RBC-based biosensors using membrane proteins retained through erythropoiesis, demonstrating in vitro and in vivo functionality for non-invasive diagnostics.

The paper introduces GAMES, a workflow for developing dynamic models of synthetic genetic systems, demonstrating it with a case study on a chemically responsive transcription factor.

The paper develops an in cellulo assay to study Pol III transcription termination in human cells and identifies sequence and structural determinants for efficient termination.

This paper presents a method for designing mammalian genetic programs using predictive models and modular genetic parts to achieve complex cellular functions.

This paper presents a computational method to optimize split protein systems by guiding the evaluation of mutants to find an optimal functional window.

The paper shows macrophages use quorum licensing, a density-dependent mechanism, to regulate collective activation in response to LPS, leading to bimodal phenotypic partitioning.

COMET provides a toolkit of transcription factors and promoters to design and tune gene expression in mammalian cells with customizable genetic programs.

This study improves synthetic receptor performance by showing that transmembrane domains significantly affect signaling through intracellular geometry, and proposes design principles for future receptors.