Leonard (Len) R Stephens FRS[1] (born 18 June 1960) is a molecular biologist, senior group leader and associate director at the Babraham Institute.
Len Stephens has contributed much to the understanding of inositol lipids functions in eukaryotic cells, and in particular in neutrophils.
[3] They identified and isolated the GPCR-activated Type 1B PI3K (PI3KΥ) and, in a sustained body of work, defined its structure, explained its complex pattern of regulation by GβΥ and Ras, and proved its role in inflammatory events in vivo.
[4] They – in parallel with Dario Alessi – identified phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 as the PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-activated link between PI3K-1 activation and protein kinase B activation, a key pathway through which PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 formation regulates cell proliferation and survival.
[6] Len Stephens received a BSc in Biology (1981) and a PhD in Physiology (1984) from the University of Birmingham.