Dr. Tolstorukov earned his degrees in genetics, PhD in 1973 and DSc in 1989, in the Soviet Biotechnological Industry's State Institute of Genetics and Selection of Industrial Microorganisms ("NIIGenetika") in Moscow, USSR. In 1992 by decision of the Higher Attestation Commission of the USSR he was awarded the title of full Professor in Genetics. Before coming to Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences in 2001, Dr. Tolstorukov spent more than 30 years working as Researcher, Group Leader, Professor and Section Head at the NIIGenetika. He was invited as Visiting Scientists into National Cancer Research Institute, Frederick, MD, USA (1989-1990) and University of Groningen, Haren, the Netherlands (1995), and as Visiting Professor into Osaka University, Osaka, Japan (1997-1998). During 1976-1998 he consulted several Soviet state plants manufacturing yeast as a source of single cell protein for animal feed and a number of privet biotechnological businesses in Russia.

His discovery of a complex genetic system controlling homo- and heterothallism in yeast (PhD thesis, 1969-1974) has had a substantial impact on the development of the "cassette model" of mating type interconversion in S. cerevisiae and the discovery of gene silencing in yeast. Beginning from 1975, Dr. Tolstorukov pioneered the genetic investigations of methylotrophic yeast species. His work with Pichia methanolica resulted in the discovery of genetic manipulation methods of the yeast sexual cycle and the development of other classical genetic methods for this group of yeasts, including mutagenesis, mating, complementation, tetrad analysis and plasmid transformation (Tolstorukov et al., 1977-1994). Dr. Tolstorukov's work served researchers in Western Europe and the United States, including Dr. James Cregg, as a template for developing methods for genetic manipulations for other methylotrophic yeast species, Hansenula polymorpha and Pichia pastoris. Dr. Tolstorukov holds several patents issued in the Soviet Union.

In 2001 Dr. Tolstorukov was invited as a Visiting Research Scientist to KGI. He became a Senior Research Scientist and later was appointed as Research Professor at the Dr. Cregg's lab and has taken responsibilities for most of the academic and applied projects in the lab related to the expression of proteins in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris and the improvement of the Pichia pastoris expression system. Dr. Tolstorukov developed a novel proprietary technology for manufacturing antibodies in yeast (US patents issued in 2011-2012). He also initiated projects for analysis of new promoters for expression of heterologous proteins in Pichia pastoris. He has cloned and demonstrated potential efficiency of a number of such promoters (US Patent issued in 2012 and patent applications filed in 2012). As co-founder and principal scientist of Biogrammatics, Inc., a start-up company working on improvement of the Pichia pastoris expression system, Dr. Tolstorukov has been involved in construction of a novel user-friendly host-vector system for this yeast as well as in creating Pichia pastoris producers expressing proteins of interest for a number of academic laboratories and companies.

He currently works on several research projects related to the application of the P. pastoris expression system for production of important proteins, such as phytase - an animal feed enzyme widely used in the diets of pigs and chickens, alpha- and beta-galactosidases, that have potentials in using as animal and human food additives. He is also working in collaboration with the lab of Dr. Angelika Niemz  to construct, clone and sequence of targeting DNA molecules, grow microorganisms of interest and establish the PROXAR reaction (Isothermal PROXimity DNA Amplification Reaction) for DNA-based detection of multidrug resistance mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.