Dr. Leonard brings direct, firsthand experience on both sides of the grant funding process. As Principal Investigator, he secured a multi-year NIH R01 award as well as an American Heart Association Grant-in-Aid. He also served as Co-Investigator on multiple additional NIH-funded R01 grants totaling several million dollars in direct costs. Beyond writing

successful applications, Dr. Leonard has sat on the other side of the table as a member of NIH study sections and as a grant reviewer for several international funding agencies, giving him a reviewer’s-eye understanding of what makes a proposal competitive.

Areas of Scientific Expertise

• Genomics, biomarkers, and precision medicine
• Immunology, oncology, and cardiovascular biology
• Translational research and clinical applications
• Target Discovery and Validation
• CRISPR functional genomics and multi-omics analysis
• Platelet and megakaryocyte biology; hemostasis and thrombosis
• Molecular Biology
• Cellular Biology

Grant and Scientific Writing Experience

• Analyzing current funding opportunities to identify suitable mechanisms
• NIH R01, R21, and fellowship applications
• NIH P01 and SPORE program grants, UG3/UH3
• Foundation grant applications
• Corporate grant applications
• Scientific manuscripts
• Scientific review articles
• Conference abstracts and presentations
• Figure preparation

Dr. Leonard earned his B.S. in Biology from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Pathology at Harvard Medical School. He went on to hold faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School, Rutgers University (Robert Wood Johnson Medical School), and Thomas Jefferson University, where he served as Research Assistant Professor and later Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine from 2010 to 2020, leading an NIH- and AHA-funded laboratory studying the genomics of platelet and megakaryocyte function He is the author of 43 peer-reviewed publications in journals including Nature Medicine, Blood, and Circulation. From 2020 to 2024, he served as Principal Scientist and Senior Principal Scientist in Functional Genomics at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine R&D, translating complex genomic and translational research across oncology and immunology into evidence-based scientific content supporting pharmaceutical development and regulatory strategy. Since 2025, he has continued this work as an independent consultant advising an early-stage biotech startup on translational strategy.

To request Dr. Leonard, please do so within our quote sheet.