
Leighanne Basta
Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy
Professor Basta earned her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences where she studied bacterial enzymes involved in isoprenoid biosynthesis. She did her postdoctoral work in the Center for Tuberculosis Research at Hopkins where she became interested in the enzymes that catalyze peptidoglycan formation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As a postdoctoral fellow, she was awarded a Teaching Fellowship through Loyola University at Maryland and worked as an Affiliate Professor in the Biology Department, teaching both introductory and upper level biology courses. She joined the Chemistry Department at USNA in 2015, and is one of the few members of the department that teaches both chemistry and biology introductory and upper level courses. Professor Basta has an active research program and has been successful in recruiting some of the department's top chemistry majors to study mycobacterial L,D-transpeptidase enzymes.
Appearances
- DateApril 9, 2021Commercial carbapenem antibiotics, including Meropenem, Ertapenem, and Imipenem, are currently being used to treat multidrug resistant and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis…
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Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy - DateMarch 20, 2022In recent years, certain mycobacterial species have developed resistance to traditional first line antibiotics, thereby posing an increasingly serious threat to human life and underscoring the need to identify and develop new antimycobacterial agents…
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Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy - DateMarch 20, 2022By the year 2050, it is projected that deaths attributed to antimicrobial resistant infections will surpass that of cancer as a leading cause of death. Mycobacterial species, including _Mycobacterium tuberculosis_, cause deadly infections and require lengthy, costly treatments…
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- DateMarch 21, 2022Mycobacterial L,D-transpeptidases (Ldts) are under investigation as potential drug targets…
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Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy - : [CHED] Division of Chemical Education
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Xavier UniversityLafayette CollegeAssociate Professor, Saint Louis UniversityElizabeth S. Thrall, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Fordham UniversityAssistant Professor, United States Naval AcademyThe Pennsylvania State University - University Park CampusIndiana UniversityUniversity of UtahAssistant Professor, Eastern Illinois UniversityProfessor, Penn State BerksAssociate Professor of Biochemistry, High Point UniversityAssistant Professor, Furman UniversityAssociate Professor, Pennsylvania State UniversitySt. Mary's College of MarylandSarah Soltau, PhDAssociate Professor, Bridgewater State UniversityAssociate Professor of Chemistry, Jacksonville UniversityAssociate Professor, Emmanuel CollegeMillersville UnivesityAssociate Professor, Messiah CollegeWorcester Polytechnic InstituteAssistant Professor, Millersville University of PennsylvaniaSaint Joseph's UniversityProfessor and Chair, Shippensburg UniversityAssociate Professor of Chemistry, University of Mary WashingtonUndergraduate Researcher, Maryville University - : [CHED] Division of Chemical Education
Speakers
Xavier UniversityLafayette CollegeAssociate Professor, Saint Louis UniversityElizabeth S. Thrall, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Fordham UniversityAssistant Professor, United States Naval AcademyThe Pennsylvania State University - University Park CampusIndiana UniversityUniversity of UtahAssistant Professor, Eastern Illinois UniversityProfessor, Penn State BerksAssociate Professor of Biochemistry, High Point UniversityAssistant Professor, Furman UniversityAssociate Professor, Pennsylvania State UniversitySt. Mary's College of MarylandSarah Soltau, PhDAssociate Professor, Bridgewater State UniversityAssociate Professor of Chemistry, Jacksonville UniversityAssociate Professor, Emmanuel CollegeMillersville UnivesityAssociate Professor, Messiah CollegeWorcester Polytechnic InstituteAssistant Professor, Millersville University of PennsylvaniaSaint Joseph's UniversityProfessor and Chair, Shippensburg UniversityAssociate Professor of Chemistry, University of Mary WashingtonUndergraduate Researcher, Maryville University - : [CHED] Division of Chemical Education
Speakers
Xavier UniversityLafayette CollegeAssociate Professor, Saint Louis UniversityElizabeth S. Thrall, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Fordham UniversityAssistant Professor, United States Naval AcademyThe Pennsylvania State University - University Park CampusIndiana UniversityUniversity of UtahAssistant Professor, Eastern Illinois UniversityProfessor, Penn State BerksAssociate Professor of Biochemistry, High Point UniversityAssistant Professor, Furman UniversityAssociate Professor, Pennsylvania State UniversitySt. Mary's College of MarylandSarah Soltau, PhDAssociate Professor, Bridgewater State UniversityAssociate Professor of Chemistry, Jacksonville UniversityAssociate Professor, Emmanuel CollegeMillersville UnivesityAssociate Professor, Messiah CollegeWorcester Polytechnic InstituteAssistant Professor, Millersville University of PennsylvaniaSaint Joseph's UniversityProfessor and Chair, Shippensburg UniversityAssociate Professor of Chemistry, University of Mary WashingtonUndergraduate Researcher, Maryville University - DateMarch 27, 2023Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern around the globe and is expected to become a leading cause of death worldwide by 2050…
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Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy - DateMarch 27, 2023The genus _Mycobacterium_ contains over one hundred species, many of which are true or opportunistic pathogens causing significant disease in humans. Tuberculosis (TB), one of the world’s leading infectious killers, is caused by the mycobacterial species _Mycobacterium tuberculosis_ (_Mtb_)…
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- DateMarch 18, 2024Pathogenic mycobacterial infections pose a serious threat in the ongoing battle of attrition against antibiotic resistance…
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Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy - DateMarch 18, 2024The _Mycobacterium _genus is composed of a range of pathogens that cause infections including tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy. TB, caused by the bacterial pathogen _Mycobacterium tuberculosis_ (_Mtb_), is the world’s leading infectious killer, killing ~1.6 million of the ~10…
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Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy - DateAugust 21, 2025The cell walls of mycobacterial species are uniquely complex; they are characteristically rich in lipids, and the peptidoglycan (PG) layer contains a large degree of 3→3 transpeptide linkages that are formed by L,D-transpeptidase (Ldt) enzymes…
Presenter
Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy