Leon Harrington

I joined D Young & Co in 2019 with a strong, interdisciplinary technical background in chemistry, biotechnology, and the physical sciences. I particularly enjoy the diversity of innovation and clients that I am able to support in my role.

Since joining the firm, I have gained experience in the prosecution of UK, European, and foreign patents for a variety of clients across the chemical and (bio)pharmaceutical fields as well as EPO oppositions and appeals. I have particular experience in the fields of antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, polymers, drug delivery, lubricants and fuel additives, green chemistry, medical devices and nanotechnology.

Prior to joining D Young & Co, I worked as a post-doctoral fellow in Germany, leading a synthetic biology project to design peptide and protein-based molecular switches for use in engineering natural and synthetic cells. My doctoral research focused on the development of nanopore-based single-molecule sensors for the study of protein kinases and the screening of kinase inhibitors.

Publications

• MChem (Hons) in Chemistry, St John’s College, University of OxfordDPhil in Chemical Biology, New College, University of OxfordHarrington L, Alexander LT, Knapp S, Bayley H (2019) Single-Molecule Protein Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation by Nanopore Enzymology ACS Nano 13(1): 633.
• Kretschmer S, Harrington L, Schwille P (2018) Reverse and forward engineering protein pattern formation. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 373(1747).
• Harrington L, Alexander LT, Knapp S, Bayley H (2015) Pim Kinase Inhibitors Evaluated with a Single-Molecule Engineered Nanopore Sensor. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 54(28):8154.
• Harrington L, Cheley S, Alexander LT, Knapp S, Bayley H (2013) Stochastic detection of Pim protein kinases reveals electrostatically enhanced association of a peptide substrate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110(47):E4417.
• Kong L, Harrington L, Li Q, Cheley S, Davis BG, Bayley H (2013) Single-molecule interrogation of a bacterial sugar transporter allows the discovery of an extracellular inhibitor. Nat Chem 5(8):651.
• Bayley H, Cheley S, Harrington L, Syeda R (2009) Wrestling with native chemical ligation. ACS Chem Biol 4(12):983.
• Harrington L, Fletcher JM, Heermann T, Woolfson DN, Schwille P (2021) De novo design of a reversible phosphorylation-dependent switch for membrane targeting. Nat Commun 12(1): 1472.
• Harrington L, Alexander LT, Knapp S, Bayley H (2021) Nanopore enzymology to study protein kinases and their inhibition by small molecules. Nanopore Technology: Methods and Protocols (Springer) 95.
• Heermann T, Franquelim HG, Glock P, Harrington L, Schwille P (2020) Probing biomolecular interactions by a pattern-forming peptide-conjugate sensor. Bioconjug Chem 32(1): 172.