Dr. Leonardo Brizuela conducted his graduate research at Cold Spring Harbor Labs in Dr. David Beach’s laboratory (1985-1988). His work on the cdc2 kinase and p13, in yeast, invertebrate marine organisms and vertebrates, resulted in important publications in the field of cell cycle regulation. He then worked on his postdoctoral fellowship at Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Labs (1989-1991). He studied and contributed to the understanding of the mechanism of action and characterization of the binding proteins for the immunosuppressor FK506 as well as for rapamycin.

Dr. Brizuela then went to work at the EMBL as a Staff Scientist in 1992, with Dr. Sara Courtneidge, concentrating on the oncogenic properties of the hamster polyoma virus middle T antigen. Next he joined Mitotix, Inc. in 1994, where he worked as Senior Scientist and, during his last three years there, as Director of Biochemistry. Dr. Brizuela also headed, in collaboration with Dupont Pharmaceuticals, the oncology drug discovery program for CDK inhibitors, which resulted in the nomination of candidates for clinical trials. His research on this period resulted in the publication of the atomic structures of p19 and of cdk6 bound to p19. His other publications during this period also contributed to the understanding of the mechanism of action of p19 and p21 cdk inhibitors, as well as the characterization of small molecular weight inhibitors currently in development.

He joined the Institute of Proteomics in January 2000 as Associate Director. His research interest continue to center in the identification and biochemical/structural characterization of proteins involved in cell cycle regulation and signal transduction, as well as in high-throughput protein expression, purification and characterization techniques.