Gerta Hoxhaj
Studies how growth signalling through PI3K, AKT and mTOR rewires cell metabolism; as a Manning-lab postdoc she co-authored work on how metformin inhibits mTORC1 in the liver
Associate Professor, UT Southwestern (faculty since 2019) · postdoc, Brendan Manning lab, Harvard T.H. Chan School (2013–2019) · PhD, MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, Univ. of Dundee (2013) · BSc, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul
Children's Medical Center Research Institute (CRI), UT Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, Texas, USA) ↗ Lab lineagetrained under Brendan D. Manning → ORCID0000-0001-6179-3583 ↗
Portrait: UT Southwestern, Children's Research Institute
As Manning-lab postdoc, part of team (HOW2017) showing at low doses metformin suppresses hepatic mTORC1 specifically via AMPK and TSC complex. Co-authored with Manning a widely cited PI3K-AKT-mTOR review (HOX2019).
PhD at MRC Dundee characterizing E3 ligase ZNRF2.
Own lab since 2019, CPRIT Scholar, Pew Scholar, V Foundation Scholar, ACS Research Scholar; TAMEST Mary Beth Maddox Award 2025.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | M | Spatial control of the TSC complex integrates insulin and nutrient regulation of mTORC1 at the lysosome MEN2014 Spatial control of the TSC complex integrates insulin and nutrient inputs at the lysosome. |
| 2016 | M | mTORC1 induces purine synthesis through control of the mitochondrial tetrahydrofolate cycle BEN2016 mTORC1 promotes purine synthesis via ATF4-driven mitochondrial tetrahydrofolate metabolism. |
| 2017 | M | Metformin Inhibits Hepatic mTORC1 Signaling via Dose-Dependent Mechanisms Involving AMPK and the TSC Complex HOW2017 Metformin suppresses hepatic mTORC1 via AMPK and TSC at low doses. |
| 2019 | R | The PI3K-AKT network at the interface of oncogenic signalling and cancer metabolism HOX2019 Co-authors major review mapping PI3K-AKT-mTOR network. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 11
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Gerta Hoxhaj.
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- Brendan D. Manning 4 shared studies Was among the groups that in 2002 identified TSC2 as a direct target of Akt (MAN2002), linking insulin and PI3K signalling to mTORC1, and later found TBC1D7 as the third subunit of the TSC complex. His lab has shown how mTORC1 turns growth signals into the synthesis of lipids and nucleotides
- George Talbott 2 shared studies Research assistant in Brendan Manning's mTOR lab at Harvard in 2013 and 2014, who contributed to studies on where the TSC complex sits in the cell and how metformin reaches mTORC1
- Alexander J. Valvezan Showed as a Manning-lab postdoc that mTORC1 matches nucleotide production to demand, creating a weak point that can be targeted in tumours with TSC loss. His Rutgers lab found that mTORC1 activity rises and falls through the cell cycle and helps drive entry into mitosis
- Christian C. Dibble Identified TBC1D7 as the third subunit of the TSC complex that controls mTORC1, as a Manning-lab graduate student. His lab at Beth Israel Deaconess studies how PI3K signalling and nutrient supply are integrated to control mTORC1 and cell metabolism
- Issam Ben-Sahra Showed as a postdoc in Brendan Manning's lab that mTORC1 drives both pyrimidine and purine synthesis, through two different mechanisms. His Northwestern lab has extended this to bicarbonate import, SAM synthesis and ERK control of purine production
- Jessica J. Howell Metabolism biologist who, as a postdoc in Brendan Manning's lab at Harvard, worked out how the diabetes drug metformin switches off mTORC1 in the liver, and who later moved into drug and gene-therapy research in industry
- John M. Asara Mass-spectrometry specialist whose core facility supplied metabolomics and proteomics for several mTOR studies, including measurements of purine, pyrimidine and SAM metabolism downstream of mTORC1.
- Lewis C. Cantley Co-discovered PI3K, the pathway that feeds into mTOR from growth factors
- Marc Turner Research assistant and lab manager in Brendan Manning's mTOR lab at Harvard from 2014 to 2016, who contributed to studies on nucleotide synthesis in tumour cells and on metformin's route to mTORC1
- Reuben J. Shaw Showed, in parallel with two other groups, that the tumour suppressor LKB1 directly activates AMPK, and that AMPK brakes mTORC1 by phosphorylating raptor. His Salk lab also linked AMPK to autophagy through ULK1 and helped explain how metformin acts in the liver
- Sue Menon Showed insulin controls mTORC1 by moving the TSC complex on and off the lysosome
Every researcher with a profile →
On the programme
Meetings in the Atlas calendar where Gerta Hoxhaj is listed among the speakers or organisers.
- past Prague Metabolism and Signaling Symposium 2026 ↗ 24–27 Jun 2026 ·
Prague, Czech Republic · ★★★
All meetings in the calendar →
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