Leila Alidokht Akhooni

Leila Alidokht Akhooni

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Marston Hall
130 Natural Resources Road
Amherst, MA 01003

lalidokhtakh@umass.edu
websites.umass.edu/marianalopes/people/

Post Doctoral Research Associate in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Lopes Research Group

  • Ultraviolet (UV)-assisted disinfection and biofilm prevention.
  • Nanotechnology enabled water and soil treatment.
  • Mechanistic investigation of chemical and biological processes
  • Adsorption, Advanced oxidation, and reduction processes for environmental decontamination
  • PFAS removal and destruction.
  • Retention and transport of solutes in the porous matrix.

Current Research
Leila is currently working as a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). She is conducting research projects (funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR)) under the supervision of Dr. Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes, and Dr. Caitlyn Butler to investigate the capability of Ultraviolet (UV)-emitting glass (UEG) for prevention of biofilm formation on windows of marine vessels. She is working on the fabrication of UEG, biological analyses of biofilms and mechanistic studies, and leads the laboratory and field submersion experiments. Leila’s main research interest is nanotechnology-assisted treatment of contaminated sites and development of environmentally friendly, fast, and efficient technique(s) for field-scale applications. Her research has resulted in 20 peer-reviewed journal papers, one US. Patent, and 4 conference papers with a total citation of 903.

Academic Background

Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA, 2023- present 
Research Fellow, Turkey Government Scholarships, Turkey 2021-2022 
Post-Doctoral Research, Dep. of Soil Sci. Eng., University of Tabriz, Iran 2017-2018 
PhD in Soil Science – Soil Fertility and Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Iran, 2011-2017 
MSc in Soil Science – Soil Fertility and Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Iran, 2008-2011 
BSc in Agricultural Engineering- Soil Sciences, University of Tabriz, Iran, 2002-2006

  • Translational Technology