Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases in Cancer (PDF)

Dr. Neel earned his PhD in Viral Oncology from The Rockefeller University and his MD degree from Cornell University Medical School. After completing residency and post-doctoral training at Harvard institutions, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and began his own independent research laboratory in the Molecular Medicine Unit at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, now known as Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). He also served as the Director of the Cancer Biology Program and as Deputy Director for Basic Research, Hematology Division at BIDMC. Currently, Dr. Neel is Director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone Medical Center, as well as a Professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU.

Dr Neel is the author of over 160 original papers and 25 invited reviews. He was the inaugural recipient of the Gertrude Elion Award of the American Association for Cancer Research and holds an NIH MERIT award. His current scientific interests focus on cell signaling, with a particular emphasis on protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), as well as tumor stem cell signaling and the roles of Shp2 and its binding proteins in several human diseases.
Dr Tonks was educated at Oxford University and the University of Dundee, where he earned his PhD. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington with Edmond H. Fischer, and moved to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was promoted to his current position of full Professor.


Dr. Tonks has published over 180 papers in the field and has been granted 10 patents. His research has been recognized by several awards, including a MERIT Award from the NIH and the Colworth Medal (British Biochemical Society). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Tonks' research focuses on functional analysis of members of the PTP family, using various approaches including