Mathematical perspectives on the hallmarks of cancer: Emerging directions

Cancer is a complex and disease characterised by a set of biological properties commonly referred to as the Hallmarks of Cancer. These include sustained proliferative signalling, evasion of growth suppressors, cell death resistance, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis, as well as immune evasion, metabolic deregulation, and genomic instability. 

This talk will briefly situate mathematical oncology within the context of these hallmarks, with only a concise overview of established modelling approaches. The main focus will be on our most recent developments in hybrid mathematical models for patient-scale cancer metastasis. Particular emphasis will be given on the combination of the continuum descriptions of the tumour microenvironment with discrete individual cancer cell-level dynamics. We will also discuss our newest work on the use of augmented and virtual reality technologies as tools for the exploration, and interpretation of high-dimensional model outputs. 

The talk will conclude with a short discussion of open challenges and future directions, highlighting how advanced hybrid modelling and immersive visualisation may contribute to more predictive and translational mathematical oncology.

Venue: Fulton G20