At The Rockefeller, Dr. August worked on a number of areas, including analysis of the BRCA1 oncogene that when mutated, results in much increased risk for breast cancer. This work was the first to show that this protein could regulate the transcription of genes and could potentially regulate the development of Breast cancer in this fashion. He also continued working on analysis of the regulation of Tec family kinases, work which he had started as a PhD student and was the first to show that this family of kinases are regulated by upstream signals from Src and PI3-kinase. This work had direct implications for manipulating T cell activation and thus the immune response.