Leena is Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS), Institute of Earth and Life Sciences (ILES), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. She teaches applied, environmental and medical microbiology, supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research projects, and leads an active research programme. 

Her research focuses on natural product discovery, drug discovery, host-microbiome interactions and antimicrobial resistance. She applies a range of approaches, including Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, genome mining and microbial bioinformatics, to explore bacterial diversity and function.

Prior to joining Heriot-Watt University, Leena held a number of research and industry positions across academia and the life sciences sector. She was a Senior Research Associate at the University of Strathclyde, specialicing in next-generation sequencing and transcriptomics to support drug discovery. She also worked at a major contract research organization (CRO) providing preclinical services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition, she has experience managing EU-funded collaborative research project involving multiple European partners. Leena has also published under the name Dr Leena Nieminen and has presented her work widely at international conferences across Europe, North America and Asia, as well as on the BBC.

Leena holds an MSc in Environmental Microbiology and Chemistry from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. She is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holds Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning.

Antimicrobial Natural Product Discovery 

Drug Discovery and Development

Host-Microbiome Interactions

Antibiotic Resistance in Polluted Environments (Oil, Pharmaceuticals)

One Health Approaches

Antibiotic discovery, antimicrobial resistance, microbiome, NGS, genome mining, environmental microbiology, translational microbiology

Teaching and Course Leadership

• Course Leader for Microorganisms in Human Health and Drug Discovery (4th year UG course)
• Course Leader for Introduction to Microbiology (2nd year UG course)
• Lecturer in Medical Microbiology (3rd year UG course) and Biology Practicals (1st year UG course)

Academic Coordination and Student Support

• First-year coordinator for UG Biology (EGIS) (2022 – ongoing)
• Supervisor of over 25 undergraduate and postgraduate research projects (2018 - ongoing)
• Personal Tutor/Advisor to undergraduate and postgraduate students

Research and Laboratory Management

• Leads and manages an active microbiology research laboratory
• Responsible for laboratory safety, training and supervision

Examination and Reviewing

• Internal and external PhD examiner
• Peer reviewer for journals including FEMS Microbiology and Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Member of the IBioIC reviewer pool

Academic Service and Leadership

• Contributor to curriculum development and cross-school initiatives
• Supporter of interdisciplinary engagement through seminars and research events

PhD Supervision (Primary and Co-supervisor roles)

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pristine, oil-contaminated, and bioremediated soils (linking to One Health and environmental microbiology)
• Genome mining and metagenomics for the discovery of novel lasso peptides (aligned with drug discovery and natural products research)
• Pollution impacts on freshwater ecosystems: microbiology, genetics, and hydrology (bridging environmental microbiology and One Health)
• Skin microbiome dynamics in primates (connecting microbiome research with host-microbe interactions)
• Diet, health and performance: interactions with the human oral microbiome (advancing microbiome-host health links under the One Health framework)

Recent MSc and Honours Supervision

• Characterisation and antimicrobial screening of bacterial isolates from diverse natural environments (termite mounds, cave biofilm, other environmental samples) (natural antibiotic product discovery)
• Investigation of secondary metabolism biosynthetic gene clusters in actinomycetes and Streptomyces species (natural product discovery and antibiotic biosynthesis)
• Synergistic activity of novel compounds with existing antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria (drug discovery and AMR mitigation)
• Knowledge and understanding of antimicrobial resistance amongst undergraduates (science communication and education in One Health)

Supervised over 25 undergraduate and postgraduate research projects across microbiology, drug discovery, microbial ecology, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These projects contribute to One Health, antibiotic discovery, AMR and environmental microbiology themes.