Beyond the Bench Blog
Mission and Goals
The identity of scientists is largely shaped by the research they do; however, each scientist’s story goes beyond what happens at the lab bench. “Beyond the Bench" seeks to highlight not only the amazing science happening within the Harvard cancer research community, but also the scientists themselves, their career journey, and other initiatives and projects they are involved in. The blog consists of a series of stories based on interviews with a principal investigator and a student or trainee from their lab, along with photos that visually represent their story. Overall, we hope to foster collaboration and community and make science more accessible and personable by sharing the stories of the people behind the science.
Currently, the blog is run by Isabella Del Priore, the LCBC Science Communication Liaison. Isabella is a G4 in BBS in Alex Toker’s Lab studying the role of AKT in modulating cancer cell signaling and metabolism.
Recent Posts
Agudo Lab
Jan. 8th, 2026
Solving the Puzzles of Immunology
Judith Agudo sat in awe as her teacher described Alexander Fleming’s accidental discovery of penicillin, an antibiotic that has saved millions of lives...looking back, this was the moment that Dr. Agudo fell in love with science. “How amazing is it that you’re solving puzzles and at the same time you have this huge impact?” she recalls. “That’s what I wanted to do.”
Evolving and Adapting as a Grad Student
Though immune cell evasion and metastasis might seem distant from her undergraduate pursuits in plant biology and anthropology, she finds it remarkably similar. “You have a cell going throughout the body and it’s getting attacked by all of these immune cells that want to kill it,” and you want to know, “how is it changing, what does it need to change and why? It’s a sort of micro version of anthropologic evolution.”
Toker Lab
Dec. 1st, 2025
Fostering Curiosity and Building Community
Alex’s commitment to mentorship, involvement in graduate education, and focus on creating a positive lab environment all point to his deep care for the people in his communities. This includes his lab: “we have made many important discoveries that have moved the needle and the field forward, but it is the people who have made those discoveries that I am most proud of.” It also includes his family. Of his four children and wife he states, “they are the reason that I do everything that I do.”
Seeking Out Science Stories
I hope to be able to make science more accessible to this [patient] population as well as the general public, breaking down the misconception that science is only understandable within the research community. My passions lie in finding the stories within science, not only in terms of what is happening in the cell, but also why we care and why it is important.
