Florent Letronne
Director of Laboratory Operations | Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES
Florent Letronne is a scientific leader with expertise in designing and managing state-of-the-art laboratories.
Biography
Scientific leader with expertise in designing and managing state-of-the-art laboratories, laboratory automation, and operational excellence. Successfully implemented the world’s first academic Cloud Lab and the Tartan Testing Lab (COVID Testing Lab), delivering both on time and under budget. Holds a Ph.D. in Neurosciences with a strong background in molecular biology and clinical operations. Contributed to advancing Alzheimer’s research and laboratory automation. Known for leadership, collaboration, and driving innovation in accessible, reproducible science.
Areas of Expertise (6)
Laboratory Management
Molecular Biology
Cell Biology
Clinical Operations
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neurobiology and Brain Physiology
Media Appearances (2)
Letronne Feels Fulfilled Directing New Tartan Testing Lab
CMU News online
2021-01-19
“I’ve been working in scientific research for about 10 years now, and I wanted to be involved in a more direct, more impactful way to help people,” said Letronne, who came to the University of Pittsburgh five years ago for a postdoctoral fellowship to study dementia. “This is a pandemic, this is a crisis and I wanted to help as much as I could by using all the knowledge, tools and skills I accumulated along the way.”
CMU Expands Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing with High-Volume, On-Campus Lab
CMU News online
2021-01-14
"We built this facility from scratch. Everything, including the creation, verification, validation and certification of the test, had to come together quickly to be prepared for this semester," said Letronne, CMU's laboratory science director. "It's been an intense effort, but certainly a great adventure."
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Industry Expertise (1)
Laboratory Services
Education (2)
University of Lille 1 Sciences and Technology: Ph.D., Neurosciences 2014
University of Lille 1 Sciences and Technology: M.S., Health Biology, Physiology, Physiopathology and Neurosciences 2009
Links (2)
Articles (3)
Support academic access to automated cloud labs to improve reproducibility
PLoS One2023 Cloud labs, where experiments are executed remotely in robotic facilities, can improve the reproducibility, accessibility, and scalability of experimental biology. Funding and training programs will enable academics to overcome barriers to adopting such technology. Remotely operated robotic labs, known as cloud labs, have the potential to improve reproducibility in the life sciences. This Perspective investigates the barriers academics face when wanting to use cloud labs and suggests strategies to make this technology more accessible.
Phospholipids of APOE lipoproteins activate microglia in an isoform-specific manner in preclinical models of Alzheimer’s disease
Nature2021 APOE and Trem2 are major genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but how they affect microglia response to Aβ remains unclear. Here we report an APOE isoform-specific phospholipid signature with correlation between human APOEε3/3 and APOEε4/4 AD brain and lipoproteins from astrocyte conditioned media of APOE3 and APOE4 mice. Using preclinical AD mouse models, we show that APOE3 lipoproteins, unlike APOE4, induce faster microglial migration towards injected Aβ, facilitate Aβ uptake, and ameliorate Aβ effects on cognition.
Role of TREM2 deficiency in Alzheimer’s disease model mice expressing human APOE3 or APOE4: Molecular and cell biology/neuroinflammation
Alzheimer's & Dementia2020 Background Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a multifactorial neurodegenerative disease influenced by aging, genetic, and environmental risk factors. Inheritance of APOE ε4 and variants of Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid cells 2 ( TREM2 ) are two major genetic risk factors for AD, surprisingly little is known about the interplay between these two risks. TREM2 is a receptor of the innate immune system expressed on microglia, indicating a role in AD related neuroinflammation. Recent data showed APOE can bind to TREM2, in an isoform specific manner, thus raising the possibility of an APOE‐TREM2 interaction affecting TREM2 signaling and microglial function.
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