Discovery, regulation and function of the PI 3-Kinase and AKT pathway in cancer

Speaker

Alex Toker
Professor of pathology, Harvard Medical School
Associate director of the Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Alex Toker is professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and associate director of the Cancer Research Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is a member of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, and an investigator of the Ludwig Center at Harvard. He is a recipient of an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, an elected fellow of the ASBMB, president of the American Association of University Pathologists, and a recipient of the 2022 Avanti Award in Lipids. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

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The ASBMB Breakthroughs webinar series offers a window into the cutting-edge biochemistry and molecular biology research driving discovery.

Toker’s research focuses on signal transduction mechanisms in normal and malignant cells. His lab discovered mechanisms by which PI3K signals to the protein kinase effector AKT, and has since maintained an active interest in AKT regulation and function. His group discovered specific functions of AKT in breast cancer and more recently has been investigating the reprogramming of metabolic pathways by aberrant PI3K and AKT signaling. The current goal of his laboratory is to decipher the complex mechanisms by which these pathways impact cancer progression, with the ultimate goal of developing drugs to interfere with malignancy.