Visiting lecturer: Trachette Jackson

Trachette Jackson received her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in 1998 from the University of Washington and she is currently a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan. Her research is focused on understanding the strongly linked, multiple scale processes that drive the advancement of cancer using mathematical models. Such models have the potential to facilitate a deeper understanding of the mechanisms associated with tumor initiation and progression and can also be used to develop and test novel therapeutic approaches designed to attack growing tumors at various stages of development.

Professor Jackson will lecture on "Mathematical Models of Endothelial Cell-Targeted Anti-Cancer Therapies." Recently much attention has been focused on developing anti-cancer agents that stop tumors from making new blood vessels. A critical challenge of experimental therapeutics for cancer is to decide which of these drugs are the best candidates for clinical trials. Professor Jackson will demonstrate how mathematical modeling can be of help in this regard. By quantifying how cells interpret coupled signals from a variety of stimuli and connecting these molecular processes to the temporal changes in tumor cell and microvessel density, she will show that mathematical approaches can help to determine which anti-cancer agents have the most potential for therapeutic benefit for a given tumor profile.