Agios' founders are eminent scientists and authorities in cancer who have pioneered key advances in the field of cancer metabolism. Together, they provide scientific leadership and expertise in this field – a promising new frontier of cancer research.
Professor of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School; Director of the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Cantley is a foremost expert in understanding the biochemical pathways linking cancer and energy metabolism. His key contributions include:
- Discovering the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway
- Characterizing the mechanism by which PI3K is activated by growth factors and oncogenes and elucidating pathways downstream of PI3K, including the AKT/PKB signaling pathway
- Pioneering the application of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) for studying small molecule cell membrane transport
- Discovering pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) as a “hub” to integrate growth factor signaling and aerobic glycolysis, an evolution in the understanding of the Warburg effect
Professor of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto; Director of the Advanced Medical Discovery Institute; Director of the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research; foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences and fellow of the Royal Society
Dr. Mak is a preeminent researcher of the biology of the immune system, the biology of apoptosis and the pathogenesis of cancer. His key contributions include:
- Discovering the T-Cell receptor
- Characterizing the tumorigenic functions of the tumor suppressor protein p53 and the kinase Chk2
- Identifying CPT1C as a tumor-specific gene product that plays an important role in the utilization of fatty acids as an alternative energy source of cancer cells
President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; member of the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Institute of Medicine
Dr. Thompson is an authority in the study of how genes regulate apoptosis and metabolism and investigates their application in treating cancer. His key contributions include:
- Elucidating the role of the Bcl-2 family of oncogenes role in regulating cell survival
- Identifying the roles of aerobic glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis and autophagy in the metabolic adaptation by cancer cells as part of carcinogenesis
- Proposing the concept that most oncogenes and tumor suppressors evolved to regulate cellular metabolism