2024 Lecture Series: Trachette Jackson

Associate Vice President for Research
University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor
Professor of Mathematics
University of Michigan

Lecture Title: Mobilizing Mathematics for the Fight Against Cancer

Mathematical oncologists apply mathematical and computational modeling approaches to every aspect of cancer biology, from tumor initiation to malignant spread and treatment response. A substantial amount of medical research is now focusing on the molecular biology of individual tumors to selectively target pathways involved in tumor progression. Increased understanding of molecular mechanisms that mediate the pathogenesis of cancers is leading to careful manipulation of these pathways and new cell-specific approaches to cancer therapy are now being developed. At the same time, advances in cancer immunotherapies have led to a reemergence of their use and effectiveness. Using data-driven computational models is a powerful and practical way to investigate the therapeutic potential of novel combinations of these two very different strategies for clinical cancer treatment. This talk will showcase a suite of mathematical models designed to optimize the use of targeted drug treatment strategies in combination with immunotherapy. The goal is to gain a more robust understanding of how specific tumor mutations affect the immune system and ultimately impact the efficacy of combination therapy. Combined with existing and newly generated experimental data, these mathematical models are poised to improve the ability to connect promising drugs for clinical trials and reduce the time and costs associated with transitioning novel therapeutic approaches from “equations to bench to bedside.”