Laurene Leclerc

Laurene started her PhD candidature in 2021 under the supervision of Professor Nathan Lo and Associate Professor Brendan Burns (Burns Lab, UNSW). Her project involves identifying and analysing Australian tick-borne pathogens, creating an Australian tick-bite test, and understanding the biology of the Ixodes holocyclus tick endosymbiont, Midichloria mitochondrii.

Prior to joining the MEEP lab, Laurene completed a Bachelor of Advanced Science at UNSW with First Class Honours. Her Honours project focused on computationally analysing Australian tick RNA sequencing data sets for the detection of tick-borne pathogens.

Laurene is also a passionate advocate for women in STEM. Through her involvements in organising and being a guest speaker at numerous science outreach events, she encourages young women to consider and pursue STEM careers.