2025

Alex gave a talk at the HMS Department of Pathology annual research retreat, May 29.

The lab says farewell to Bella Ranieri who is moving onto graduate studies at NYU Langone in NYC. Best of luck Bella!

The lab welcomes Christopher Dennehy, a new Research Assistant in the Toker lab. Welcome Chris!

Alex gave a seminar in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Florida, Gainesville, May 7-8.

Isabella, Gil, Emma and Bella attended the Annual AACR meeting in Chicago. Bella, Emma and Gil presented a poster, April 25-30.

Alex attended the Annual ASBMB meeting in Chicago, April 11-14.

Josefina attended the 2025 Keystone conference on Epigenetics in Development and Disease in Banff, Canada, presented a poster, and received a Future of Science scholarship!

Isabella and Emma have each been awarded a Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Foundation Career Catalyst Award!

Alex attended the annual meeting of the American Association of University Pathologists and is the elected President for 2025-2026.

Adrija has left the lab to conduct post-doctoral research in the lab of Matthew Meyerson at DFCI. Best of luck, Adrija!

Alex gave a keynote address at the 2025 International Vascular Anomalies Conference in Berlin, February 11-14.

2024

Alex gave a seminar in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, December 12.

Tash gave a talk and Gil, Josefina, and Tash presented posters at the Ludwig Center at Harvard retreat, November 25. 

Alex gave the 27th Annual Dundee Cell Signaling Lecture at the University of Dundee, School of Life Sciences, November 14. Pictured are Prof. Sir Philip Cohen, Alex, Dr. Ralitsa Madsen and Prof. Dario Alessi.

Paper published! Parallel phosphoproteomics and metabolomics map the global 

metabolic tyrosine phosphoproteome, by Alissandra Hillis in collaboration with the 

labs of Forest White (MIT) and Lewis Cantley (DFCI).

Alex gave a presentation at the BIDMC Annual Cancer Center Symposium, November 7.

Alex gave a seminar in the Department of Physiology at UT Southwestern, October 28.

The Toker lab has been awarded a BIDMC/DFCI collaborative grant award to identify combination therapies for ovarian cancer!

Alex gave a talk at the symposium on Advances in Biological Regulation, Bologna, Italy, October 7-8.

Paper published! Targeting Cholesterol Biosynthesis with Statins Synergizes with AKT Inhibitors in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, by Alissandra Hillis and many co-authors, including Emma Lecky and Ralitsa Madsen. See also this BIDMC Research Brief.

The lab welcomes Shadwa Bayoumi, a new rotation student, to 

the lab. 

Alex gave a seminar in the Department of Pharmacology at Yale 

University School of Medicine, September 26.

Alissandra is leaving the lab to start her postdoc at MIT in 

the Vander Heiden Lab! Best of luck Ali!

The Toker lab has received a new grant award from the David Liposarcoma Initiative at DFCI.

Alex attended the FASEB SRC on Protein Phosphorylation in Health and Disease in Dublin, Ireland, August 4-8.

Alex attended the FASEB SRC on Phospholipids in Aging and Disease in Saint Paul, MN, July 21-25.

Alex gave a presentation at the DFCI-sponsored conference on Breast Cancer, New Horizons, Current Controversies, Boston, MA, Jul 11.

Alex attended the FASEB SRC on Cell Signaling in Cancer in Tucson, AZ, 

June 16-20.

The annual Toker/Dibble/Manning Retreat was a success! Three days of summer 

fun and science on Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, June 4-6!

The lab welcomes Amari Griffis, a summer SHURP student, to the lab. 

The Toker lab has a new sponsored research award with BioHybrid Solutions, LLC. 

A banner day in the Toker Lab! Adrija Navarro defended her PhD Thesis in the BBS Program at Harvard Medical School, ‘The Glycosyltransferase alpha-1,3 mannosyltransferase (ALG3) is an AKT Substrate that Regulates Protein N-glycosylation in Breast Cancer Cells’ on April 26th, 2024. Congratulations Dr. Adrija Navarro!!

Isabella passed her PQE on April 5th, 2024! Congrats Isabella!

Maggie passed her PQE on April 1st, 2024! Congrats Maggie!

Alex attended the annual meeting of the American Society of 

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) in San Antonio, TX, 

March 23-26.

Emma passed her PQE on March 13th, 2024! Congrats Emma!

Alex attended the annual meeting of the American Association of University Pathologists in Los Cabos, Mexico, March 8-11.

Alex gave a presentation at the annual AMGDB (Association of Medical and Graduate Departments of Biochemistry) meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Jan 12-15.

2023

Review published! ‘PI3K Signaling Through a Biochemical Systems Lens’ By Alex and Ralitsa Madsen.

 

Alex gave a keynote address at the Biochemical Society meeting on ‘The PI3K-AKT-mTOR-PTEN pathway: a new era in basic research and clinical translation’, Barcelona, Spain, September 13-15. 

Alex gave a keynote address at the annual meeting of the Italian Society of Anatomy and Histology, Modena, Italy, September 11. 

The Toker and Manning Labs annual hike to the Blue Hills in Canton, MA! 

The lab welcomes Isabella Del Priore, a new PhD 

student in the BBS program, who joins the lab for 

her thesis research! 

The lab welcomes Maggie Dreishpoon, a new PhD 

student in the BBS program, who joins the lab for 

her thesis research!  

The lab welcomes Emma Lecky, a new PhD 

student in the BBS program, who joins the lab for 

her thesis research! 

Alissandra gave a talk at the Salk Institute meeting on Mechanisms and Models of Cancer, August 1-4. 

Alex gave a talk at the conference on Breast Cancer: New Horizons Current Controversies, sponsored by the DFCI, on July 20 at the Westin, Boston. 

The lab welcomes Isabella Ranieri who joins the lab as the new Toker lab manager and research assistant!

The annual Toker/Dibble/Manning labs retreat at Oliver Lodge, NH, June 6-8! Three days of science, fun and games. 

Alex gave a talk at the Gordon Research Conference on ‘Mammary Gland Biology’ in Mount Snow, VT, on May 28.

Alex gave a talk at McGill University, Montreal, for the Annual Biochemistry Research Day on April 19th. 

A banner day in the Toker Lab! Alissandra Hillis defended her PhD Thesis in the BBS Program at Harvard Medical School, on ‘Exploiting Signaling Signatures in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer to Identify Targetable Vulnerabilities’ on March 20th, 2023. Congratulations Dr. Alissandra Hillis!!