Major Interests: During the past two decades the major focus of this laboratory has been the role of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in the genesis of cancer and in cellular and organismal metabolism. The serine/threonine kinase Akt/PKB is perhaps the most frequently activated oncoprotein in human cancers. The hyperactivation of Akt in human cancers occurs largely through gain of function mutations in its upstream activator, the lipid kinase, PI3K, and through loss of function mutations in its upstream negative regulator the phospholipid phosphatase tumor suppressor PTEN that antagonizes PI3K.