Bio
Wellington Claiton Leite is an Instrument Scientist at the Biological Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (Bio-SANS) beamline at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Prior to his current role, Dr. Leite served as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2019–2021), where he expanded his expertise in structural biology and neutron scattering instrumentation.
Dr. Leite earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the State University of Ponta Grossa, Brazil, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, in September 2016. His doctoral research focused on X-ray crystallography studies of DNA repair proteins in nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Currently, Dr. Leite’s research is centered on structural biology using Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS). He is a key contributor to the BraVe initiative, a Department of Energy (DOE) task aimed at innovating user facility instrumentation, experimental techniques, and data analytics to support biopreparedness and responses to future pandemics. Additionally, he participates in a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project investigating transient phenomena in biomolecular condensates relevant to environmental biology.
Dr. Leite collaborates extensively with the neutron biology user community, studying a range of biomolecular complexes using neutron scattering and deuteration. His work includes protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid complexes, membrane proteins, lipid-detergent membrane models, and biopolymers. At the beamline, Dr. Leite is actively involved in developing advanced sample environments, including automated liquid-handling systems, electrochemical cell setup for in-beam studies, and stop-flow systems for time-resolved experiments.
Professional Experience
−Instrument Scientist (2021 – Present)
−Oak Ridge National Laboratory – USA
−Postdoctoral Researcher Associated (2019 – 2021)
−Oak Ridge National Laboratory – USA
−Assistant Professor (2017 – 2019)
−Federal University of Technology – Parana - Brazil
Education
−PhD and MSc Physics (2010 – 2016)
−Ponta Grossa State University – Brazil
−University of Wisconsin – Madison – USA
−Bs Physics (2005 – 2009)
−Ponta Grossa State University – Brazil