Research Highlights
Measuring Drug Levels in-vivo
Developing sensors potentially capable of measuring the level of any drug in a living body. The sensors are electrochemically based and made using DNA immobilized to gold surfaces.
DNA Electrodeposition
Explored different methods of depositing DNA onto gold surfaces such as Thiol-exchange (organic passivator first) and DNA adsorption (DNA first). Improved these methods of enhancing these methods using an applied voltage to gold surfaces.
Electrochemical Fluorescence Microscopy
2-3 mm diameter gold crystals were manufactured for exploring surface texture effects. Epi-fluorescence microscopy coupled with electrochemistry was used to study fluorescently labelled coatings on these gold surfaces.
Affiliations
Nutromics
(Employer)
Plaxco Lab
(Post-doctorate)
Bizzotto Lab
(PhD)
Publications
K. K. Leung, J. Gerson, N. Emmons, J. M. Heemstra, T. E. Kippin and K. W. Plaxco, The Use of Xenonucleic Acids Significantly Reduces the In Vivo Drift of Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors, Angewandte Chemie, 2024, Accepted Article. [ DOI ]
E. Verrinder, K. K. Leung, M. Kaan Erdal, L. Sepunaru, and K. W. Plaxco , Comparison of voltammetric methods used in the interrogation of electrochemical aptamer-based sensors, Sensors and Diagnostics, 2024 , 3, 95-103. [ DOI ]
B. Roehrich, K. K. Leung, J. Gerson, T. E. Kippin, K. W. Plaxco, and L. Sepunaru, Calibration-free, seconds-resolved in vivo molecular measurements using fourier-transform impedance spectroscopy interrogation of electrochemical aptamer sensors, ACS Sensors, 2023 , 8, 3051--3059. [ DOI ]
J. Gerson, M. Kaan Erdal, M. H. McDonough, K. L. Ploense, P. Dauphin-Ducharme, K. M. Honeywell, K. K. Leung, N. Arroyo-Curras, J. M. Gibson, N. A. Emmons, W. Meiring, J. P. Hespanha, K. W. Plaxco, and T. E. Kippin, High-precision monitoring of and feedback control over drug concentrations in the brains of freely moving rats, Science Advances, 2023, 9, eadg3254 [ DOI ]
K. K. Leung, J. Gerson, N. Emmons, B. Roehrich, E. Verrinder, L. Fetter, T. E. Kippin and K. W. Plaxco, A tight squeeze: geometric effects on the performance of three-electrode electrochemical-aptamer based sensors in constrained, in-vivo placements , Analyst, 2023, 148, 1562--1569. [ DOI ]
A. M. Downs, J. Gerson, K. K. Leung, K. M. Honeywell, T. Kippin, and K. W. Plaxco, Improved calibration of electrochemical aptamer-based sensors, Scientific Reports, 2022, 12, 1--10. [ DOI ]
K. K. Leung, A. M. Downs, G. Ortega, M. Kurnik, and K. W. Plaxco, Elucidating the Mechanisms Underlying the Signal Drift of Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors in Whole Blood, ACS Sensors, 2021, 6, 3340--3347. [ DOI ]
K. K. Leung, I. Martens, H.-Z. Yu, and D. Bizzotto, Measuring and Controlling the Local Environment of Surface-Bound DNA in Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold When Prepared Using Potential-Assisted Deposition, Langmuir, 2020, 36, 6837--6847. [ DOI ]
K. K. Leung, H. Z. Yu, and D. Bizzotto, Electrodepositing dna self-Assembled monolayers on au: Detailing the influence of electrical potential perturbation and surface crystallography, ACS Sensors, 2019 , 4, 513--520. [ DOI ]
K. K. Leung, A. D. Gaxiola, H. Z. Yu, and D. Bizzotto, Tailoring the DNA SAM surface density on different surface crystallographic features using potential assisted thiol exchange, Electrochimica Acta, 2018, 261, 188--197. [ DOI ]
E. A. Fisher, K. K. Leung, J. Casanova-Moreno, T. Masuda, J. Young, and D. Bizzotto, Quantifying the Selective Modification of Au(111) Facets via Electrochemical and Electroless Treatments for Manipulating Gold Nanorod Surface Composition, Langmuir, 2017,33, 12887--12896. [ DOI ]
Z. Yu, K. Leung, H.-Z. Yu, and D. Bizzotto, A non-linear harmonic analysis of potential induced fluorescence modulation of a DNA self assembled monolayer, Electrochimica Acta, 2017, 245, 386--394. [DOI]
A. D. Sun, K. Leung, A. D. Restivo, N. A. Laberge, H. Takasaki, and J. A. Love, Nickel-catalyzed Csp-Csp3 bond formation by carbon-fluorine activation, Chemistry - A European Journal, 2014, 20, 3162--3168. [DOI]