About
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Toney obtained a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia (1981) and a M.S. (1982) and Ph.D. (1985) in Chemistry from Northwestern University. He was a post-doctoral fellow in Molecular Biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School (1985-1987) and a post-doctoral fellow in Chemical Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1987-1989) before joining Merck Research Laboratories as a Research Fellow (1989-1999) and Senior Research Fellow (1999-2002). At Merck, Dr. Toney studied a variety of therapeutic targets for which high throughput biochemical assays were developed. Dr. Toney joined the faculty of Montclair State University as the Sokol Professor of Chemistry (2002-2008) and served as Department Chairperson, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2005-2008). Dr. Toney joined Kean University in 2008 as Dean of the College of Natural, Applied and Health Sciences. During his tenure as Dean (2008-2011), Dr. Toney championed the development and enhancement of key academic programs in both traditional and emerging disciplines, including a M.S. in Nursing and a B.S. in Sustainability Studies, the first of its kind in New Jersey. Dr. Toney is Vice President for Academic Affairs (2011- present) at Kean University.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Toney’s research group at Kean University is focused on drug discovery using a multi-disciplinary approach, particularly to enhance student learning. Recent therapeutic targets have included antibiotic resistance and type 2 diabetes. Research tools include, but are not limited to, enzymology, cloning, expression and purification of recombinant proteins, high throughput assay development, cell biology and computer modeling of known protein three dimensional structures for drug design. Each of these projects relies upon key collaborations with Kean University faculty as well as outside the University.