Speaker
Description
Cancer populations evolve in response to dynamic microenvironments, and the adaptive immune system responds by attempting to recognize and eliminate cancer cells by targeting tumor-associated antigens. The interplay between an evading cancer and recognizing immune compartment is quite dynamic and results in cancer elimination or ultimate immune escape preceded by a period of sustained equilibrium. In this talk, I will discuss our group’s efforts at understanding the role of the adaptive immune system, surrounding extracellular matrix, and alterations in immune activity in contributing to ultimate tumor escape or elimination. This work introduces both population dynamics and agent-based modeling frameworks to better understand the resultant co-evolution of cancer populations.
