Leonid Nikitenko leads a research group in the Biomedical Sciences Department at the University of Hull, focusing on molecular mechanisms of chronic diseases associated with vascular or lymphatic endothelial cell dysfunction. Qualifying with a B.Sc. in Human Physiology from the University of Irkutsk and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Leonid completed post-doctoral training at the University of Oxford (1999-2005) in the laboratories of Prof Margaret Rees and Prof Roy Bicknell, during which time he became interested in endothelial cell biology. For his work on characterising adrenomedullin receptors in human endothelial cells, he received a E.P.A. Cephalosporin Junior Research Fellowship at Linacre College and a Merit Award (University of Oxford, 2002), and a Doctor of Sciences degree in Pathophysiology (Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 2007). He continued endothelial cell research as a senior fellow at the UCL Cancer Institute with Prof Chris Boshoff and at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Oxford with Dr Sarah De Val. In 2015, he was appointed at the University of Hull and established his own laboratory (2018) focusing on understanding the role of microvascular endothelial cells in therapy-resistant cancers (renal cell carcinoma, in-transit melanoma and myxofibrosarcoma), lymphoedema and pulmonary fibrosis. His present research focuses on platform science (including in vitro, transcriptomic, proteomic and in silico approaches) through to clinical studies and benefits from international collaborations, with a prospective goal to inform the development of more efficient targeted therapies for chronic diseases linked to endothelial cell dysfunction.