Leslie A. Reperant is the founder and director of Pikado B.V. She graduated with a doctorate of veterinary medicine (DVM) at the National Veterinary School of Lyon, France in 2004 and obtained her PhD at Princeton University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, USA in 2010. After one year of post-doctoral research at Princeton, she moved to the Department of Viroscience of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands to carry out a two-year EU FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship. Her doctoral and post-doctoral studies focused on the interplay between the pathogenesis and evolution of influenza viruses (including zoonotic and pandemic ones), and on factors driving viral emergence and spread, both within and among hosts. To address these questions, she used experimental models, as well as dynamic mathematical models of differential equations and quantitative probabilistic models.

Since the start of her graduate studies, Leslie has grown passionate with words, and found the writing of scientific publications and research grant applications one of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of her work as a researcher. She has published as first author in some of the world leading scientific journals, such as Science and The Lancet. Her h-index is 24. Her first popular science book was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2023.

Soon after graduating, Leslie prepared an application for and obtained a prestigious Marie Curie fellowship. Her passion for writing was rapidly put to good use for the preparation and editing of other grant applications and scientific manuscripts. She now offers these services professionally at Pikado B.V.