Dr. Emilio Leal Cárdenas

Emilio Leal Cárdenas was born and raised in Fresno, California. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from California State University, Fresno. In 2014, he pursued doctoral studies at Purdue University under the supervision of Prof. Arun K. Ghosh. His doctoral studies focused on the design and synthesis of potent and selective aspartic acid protease inhibitors as potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, Type-2 Diabetes, and HIV. In 2019, he started postdoctoral studies at the University of Michigan under the supervision of Prof. Amanda L. Garner. His postdoctoral work focused on the design and synthesis of m7GMP-derived cap-binding inhibitors of eIF4E as a potential treatment for cancer. In 2025, he joined the group of Prof. Osvaldo Gutierrez to work on the development of multicomponent iron-catalyzed radical cross-coupling reactions. In his free time, Emilio enjoys watching sports (i.e. Baseball, Football, Boxing, and Formula 1), playing chess and other board games, cooking, and listening to audiobooks.

"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly."

- Langston Hughes