Leonid Leon Peshkin (born 1970) is a scientist working at the Systems Biology Department at Harvard Medical School. Peshkin's research interests include embryology, evolution and aging.[1]

Leon Peshkin
Born1970 (1970) (age 54)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Alma mater
Scientific career
InstitutionsHarvard Medical School
Thesis Reinforcement learning by policy search  (2002)
Doctoral advisorLeslie Kaelbling
Other academic advisorsShimon Ullman

Early life and education

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Born in Moscow, Peshkin graduated from the Moscow's "Lyceum Vtoraya Shkola" (Russian: Лице́й «Втора́я шко́ла») with advanced program in math and physics. He earned his B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from Moscow Technological University (MIREA). He went on to receive an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1995 under Shimon Ullman.[2]

Peshkin moved to the US in 1995 to study towards a PhD in Artificial Intelligence Brown University. He ultimately followed his PhD advisor Leslie Kaelbling to the MIT AI lab where he worked on his dissertation “Reinforcement Learning via Policy Search”. He received his Ph.D. in 2002 under Kaelbling.

Research

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Leon's research and personal story was covered in a recent Boston Globe article.[3][4] Peshkin's research in systems biology was covered in press releases from HMS.[5][6][7] Leon's research on applications of Artificial Intelligence to biology of aging has been highlighted in an interview with the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation.[8] Efforts to develop an open source platform for testing life- and health-span interventions in Daphnia are discussed in an interview with the Longevity Technology portal.[9] BioIT World covers Peshkin's "radically open science" approaches and longevity research.[10]

Standard Human Genome

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Peshkin family contribution as genomic standard for the Genome in a Bottle program[11] was also cover by Genome magazine.[12] In 2022, it was reported that the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) consortium had created a complete human genome with almost no gaps, using a haploid cell line and Peshkin's Y chromosome.[13]

Burglary

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On March 17, 2011, Peshkin encountered a burglar at his home in Cambridge, MA. The burglar bit Peshkin on the wrist before being subdued and entering police custody. The incident was covered by the local press.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Leonid Peshkin - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  2. ^ "Alumni".
  3. ^ Weintraub, Karen (20 Jun 2018). "A doctor wages personal and professional battles against aging". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 Jun 2018.
  4. ^ "Anti-aging researcher faces loss of his inspiration: his 96-year-old father". STAT. 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  5. ^ "Stockpiling proteins | HMS". hms.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  6. ^ "Striking a Chord | HMS". hms.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  7. ^ "What is the difference between a buffalo and a bison? | HMS". ittakes30.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  8. ^ Bagalà, Nicola (3 January 2019). "An Interview with Dr. Leonid Peshkin". Lifespan.io. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  9. ^ Sullivan, Danny (22 June 2021). "A better model organism for testing anti-aging drugs?". www.longevity.technology. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  10. ^ Borfitz, Deborah (23 Mar 2022). "Blueprint For Radically Open, Citizen Science Approach To Aging Research". www.bio-itworld.com. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  11. ^ "GIAB". The Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  12. ^ "Genome in a Bottle". Genome Magazine. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  13. ^ "Most complete human genome yet reveals previously indecipherable DNA". Science Magazine. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  14. ^ MacLeod, Ken (17 March 2011). "Cambridge Man Fights Off Biting Burglar". CBS Boston. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
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