Leonie van Bruggen is a board-certified veterinary specialist. After graduation she worked as a small animal veterinarian in the Netherlands, England and the USA before returning to Utrecht University to complete her residency in diagnostic imaging. Since 2011 she's a diplomate of the European college of veterinary diagnostic imaging. Currently she works as senior staff member at the crossroads of patient care, teaching and research.

Her research focuses on the role of diagnostic imaging in the forensic veterinary field ('veterinary forensics'). For this research she works together with experts both in the veterinary and the human domain, both in the Netherlands and abroad. She is member of the expert panel of the veterinary forensic expert centre (LED) in the Netherlands.