Dr. Tiffany Leighton is a molecular biologist with a specialization in biotechnology and the drug discovery field. She completed a MSc in Infection & Immunology and her PhD in Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University, where she worked to disrupt bacterial virulence systems which are essential for infection in these human disease-causing pathogens. This led to work in the drug discovery sector where she searched for small molecule alternatives to antibiotics which do not kill the bacteria outright but rather "disarms" them by removing their ability to bind to and infect cells. She worked as a Research Scientist in a point-of-care diagnostic company, which created devices to detect multiple bacterial/viral targets within minutes. During the COVID-19 pandemic Dr. Leighton worked with a team out of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton screening travelers returning to Canada from abroad for COVID-19 infections. The data collected helped to guide the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (GTTA) and the airline industry for travel and quarantine restrictions within Ontario.
Dr. Leighton teaches in the Biotechnology and Biotechnology Advanced programs in the School of Climate Action. She has also been involved in an applied research project that focuses on molecular pharming, where they investigated the use of Tobacco plants as a bioreactor to produce a medically relevant drug that is routinely given to patients after having received chemotherapy.
