I'm very excited to be featured on this month's cover of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. The cover shows a series of images from a multiscale simulation of a tumor growing in the brain, made with John Lowengrub while I was a Ph.D. student at UC Irvine. (See Frieboes et al. 2007, Macklin et al. 2009, and Macklin and Lowengrub 2008.) The "about the cover" write-up (Page 325) gives more detail.
The inside has a short interview on our more current work, particularly 3-D agent-based modeling. You should also read Rick Durrett's perspective piece on cancer modeling (Page 304)—it's a great read! (And yup, Figure 3 is from our patient-calibrated breast cancer modeling in Macklin et al. 2012. ;-) )
The entire March 2013 issue can be accessed for free at the AMS Notices website:
http://www.ams.org/notices/201303/
I want to thank Bill Casselman and Rick Durrett for making this possible. I had a lot of fun in the process, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to trade ideas!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
2013 Speaking Schedule
Here is my current speaking schedule for 2013. Please join me if you can!
- March 22, 2013: Mathematical Biology Seminar, Department of Mathematics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
- Title: From integration of multiscale data to emergent phenomena: the prognosis for patient-calibrated computational oncology [abstract]
- April 19, 2013: Fourth Annual National Cancer Institute Physical Sciences in Oncology Center (NCI PS-OCs) Network Investigators' Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona
- Title: Exploring possibilities for next-generation computational cancer models that work
together (a conversation starter) [abstract]
- Plenary talk
- May 30, 2013: Mathways into Cancer II International Workshop, Carmona, Spain
- Title: From multiscale data integration to predictions of emergent phenomena: the
prognosis for patient-calibrated computational oncology [abstract]
- Plenary talk
- June 12, 2013: Annual Meeting for the Society of Mathematical Biology (SMB), Mini-Symposium 11: Agent-based simulations in oncology: applications to therapeutics, Tempe, Arizona.
- Title: Progress towards user-friendly, 3-D multiscale agent-based simulators for large (500k+ cells) cancer systems: application to in situ growth and tumor-stroma interactions [abstract]
- June 12, 2013: Annual Meeting for the Society of Mathematical Biology (SMB), Mini-Symposium 26: Patient-Specific Modeling of Cancer, Tempe, Arizona.
- Title: Patient-calibrated 3-D simulations of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) with comedonecrosis and calcification [abstract]
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
USC PSOC to host interdisciplinary cancer symposium
*** UPDATE: Registration has been extended to September 19, 2012, 5:00 pm Pacific Time. ***
The NCI-funded, Physical Sciences in Oncology Center (PSOC) at USC is hosting its second annual symposium on interdisciplinary cancer research on September 27, 2012 from 7 am to 6 pm. The event is free but registration is required.
The symposium will include a great diversity of expertise, spanning cell analysis, cancer evolution, modeling, drug delivery, and therapeutic response. We also have two fascinating keynote speakers: David A. Kirby, author of Lab Coats in Hollywood, and Corby Kummer, senior editor and acclaimed food critic for the Atlantic Monthly. Here's the confirmed lineup:
Cell Analysis:
Eun Sok Kim (University of Southern California)
Cagri Savran (Purdue University)
Mathematical Modeling:
Paul Newton (University of Southern California, and Co-Director of CICO)
Paul M. Kulesa (Stowers Institute)
Cancer Evolution/Tumor Structures:
Dwayne Stupack (University of California San Diego)
Lin Chen (University of Southern California)
Drug Delivery/Therapeutic Response:
Yannis G. Kevrekidis (Princeton University)
David Agus (University of Southern California)
Debra Auguste, Harvard University
It should be a wonderful event, and I hope you can attend!
You can find the full flyer and description here.
You can find the agenda here.
Click here to register (due by September 19, 2012).
The NCI-funded, Physical Sciences in Oncology Center (PSOC) at USC is hosting its second annual symposium on interdisciplinary cancer research on September 27, 2012 from 7 am to 6 pm. The event is free but registration is required.
The symposium will include a great diversity of expertise, spanning cell analysis, cancer evolution, modeling, drug delivery, and therapeutic response. We also have two fascinating keynote speakers: David A. Kirby, author of Lab Coats in Hollywood, and Corby Kummer, senior editor and acclaimed food critic for the Atlantic Monthly. Here's the confirmed lineup:
Cell Analysis:
Eun Sok Kim (University of Southern California)
Cagri Savran (Purdue University)
Mathematical Modeling:
Paul Newton (University of Southern California, and Co-Director of CICO)
Paul M. Kulesa (Stowers Institute)
Cancer Evolution/Tumor Structures:
Dwayne Stupack (University of California San Diego)
Lin Chen (University of Southern California)
Drug Delivery/Therapeutic Response:
Yannis G. Kevrekidis (Princeton University)
David Agus (University of Southern California)
Debra Auguste, Harvard University
It should be a wonderful event, and I hope you can attend!
You can find the full flyer and description here.
You can find the agenda here.
Click here to register (due by September 19, 2012).
Friday, June 15, 2012
Introducing CICO: The Consortium for Integrative Computational Oncology
We've had some exciting times in the Macklin Math Cancer Lab!
On May 18th, Paul Newton and I received received significant startup funding from the USC James H. Zumberge Research and Innovation Fund to establish the Consortium for Integrative Computational Oncology (CICO). We're grateful for this opportunity to build a new resource for USC and the broader cancer community!
CICO seeks to develop and promote cross-disciplinary, integrative collaborations across the USC (particularly the Viterbi School of Engineering and the Keck School of Medicine) in clinically-oriented cancer modeling. Among our guiding principles:
- Computational modeling of cancer must be driven by clinical needs. Modelers need to work hand-in-hand with clinicians at all steps of the modeling process.
- Computational oncology works at its fullest potential when working with clinical data. This focus:
- drives advances in mathematical model design,
- allows us to evaluate and choose between competing models,
- helps biologists to test, validate, and refine current cancer biology orthodoxy,
- helps clinicians to better interpret their data, and
- is most likely to lead to computational tools that will make an impact in the clinic.
- Integrative computational oncology holds the potential to integrate advances from mathematical modeling, experiments, and clinical data into comprehensive tools that give a better understanding of cancer than any of these individual pieces alone.
- Integrative computational oncology must include student education at its core, to create a true "ecosystem" of clinically-focused modeling students from the undergraduate to postdoctoral level.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Giving a talk at the PSOC Monthly Seminar
This is a definitely a thrill for me--I'm giving this month's talk at the USC PSOC seminar series. This should be a great opportunity to get the word out on what we're all about. In an unrelated note, be on the lookout for more frequent postings here (including some long promised to my friends in the SMB!)
Here are the talk details:
Date / Time: Friday, May 18, 2012, noon - 1:00 pm
Room / Building: Harkness Auditorium; HSC Clinical Sciences Building, 2nd Floor;
Address: 2250 Alcazar St., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Lunch: Free pizza at 11:45!
Title: The Emerging Role of Patient-Calibrated Computational Modeling in Cancer Research: A Case Study in Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS)
Abstract: Current clinical oncology practice can generate a wide variety of data for patients. Radiology is used both to detect and plan surgical excisions. Immunostains performed on pre-surgical biopsies are used to diagnose (and grade) the cancers and select therapeutic agents. Molecular profiling may also help stratify patients and select therapeutic agents. However, there is currently no technique to quantitatively combine these diverse data sources, along with novel in vitro measurements, to improve surgical and therapeutic planning. In this talk, we will discuss efforts by my lab (MathCancer.org) and the Center for Applied Molecular Medicine to solve this issue. We will focus on developing and calibrating biologically-grounded computational models to individual patients (particularly ductal carcinoma in situ), encouraging (and validated!) results in quantitatively predicting clinical progression, the implications for making and quantitatively testing biological hypotheses, and the role of mathematical modeling in facilitating a deeper understanding of biology, pathology, and radiology. We anticipate that such efforts will play an increasing role in driving experimental cell biology, testing and challenging current cancer biology orthodoxy, and ultimately improving clinical care.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Grant submitted to the NSF
Today, Paul Newton and I submitted a joint grant to the National Science Foundation in the Physical and Engineering Sciences in Oncology (PESO) program. PESO is a neat program jointly run by the NSF and NCI, that has spun off the NCI's recent physical sciences approach to cancer. Our proposal brings together a a variety of techniques (spanning agent-based models, signaling, tissue biomechanics, fluid flow, nonlinear transport, and Markov chains) to study targeted aspects of cancer metastasis, from early microinvasion to circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to whole-body dissemination of metastatic disease.
On a personal note, this is my first proposal as a Co-PI. *fingers crossed*
On a personal note, this is my first proposal as a Co-PI. *fingers crossed*
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Giving a talk at USC on Monday, February 6
For those of you in the neighborhood, I'll be giving a on patient-calibrated computational modeling of breast cancer, and on the role of mathematical modeling in facilitating a deeper understanding of pathology and mammography.
Monday, February 6, Center for the Applied Mathematical Sciences (CAMS) at the University of Southern California.
Link and abstract: http://cams.usc.edu/Colloquia/2-6-2012.html
Monday, February 6, Center for the Applied Mathematical Sciences (CAMS) at the University of Southern California.
Link and abstract: http://cams.usc.edu/Colloquia/2-6-2012.html
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