PLGG Appreciation Lunch

On September 20, we all piled into the patio at Sweet Cheeks in Fenway for a fabulous “Appreciation Lunch” sponsored by the PLGG Fund families. It was a special day: the sun was shining; the food was delicious; and the good cheer flowed. It’s a rare occurrence for all the various members of the PLGG team, dedicated and busy folk, to be in one place with the ease to share our stories. Among the numerous speeches was a special “thank you” to Dr. Chuck Stiles for his many years of peerless leadership and selfless efforts championing the cause. “Inspiring” doesn’t really do justice to the mutually shared feelings that ensued, but it’s the only word that has a chance of coming close. And icing on the cake, we received awesome fleece vests with the beautiful PLGG Fund at PBTF logo! We appreciate the appreciation! Thank you all!

Congratulations Daphne on being elected to the National Academy of Medicine!

Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD

The DFCI PLGA program congratulates our own Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD on her election to the National Academy of Medicine. This is one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. Daphne is recognized for her research on genetic abnormalities of brain tumors and for successfully translating laboratory discovers to treatments. Please learn more about this year’s NAM inductees at: https://nam.edu/national-academy-of-medicine-elects-100-new-members/

Architecture of autoinhibited and active BRAF-MEK1-14-3-3 complexes

Dr. Mike Eck and colleagues have published their tour de force structural study of BRAF in complex with MEK and 14-3-3 dimers. This work explains longstanding questions about the biochemical behavior of BRAF and provides a foundation for understanding BRAF activation by oncogenic mutations as well as pharmacologic inhibition. Please go to: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31581174 to read the abstract and learn more. Congratulations to Mike and his scientific team!