Events Calendar

USC PSOC Monthly Seminar Series

Speaker: Joel S. Brown, Ph.D.,, oel S. Brown, Ph.D., Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago

Talk Title: Game Theory and the Evolutionary Ecology of Cancer

Abstract: Cancer can be viewed as the evolution of a new life form. It is invasive, single-celled, and asexual. This new life form’s population grows, spreads, evolves, speciates and exhibits many of the characteristic of the history of life on our planet --- except for the devastating consequences for the patient. This life form has an ecology. Its habitats are organs and tissues. Cancer cells must forage for nutrients, avoid hazards. As ecological engineers they may shape and modify their environs. Cancer cells are subject to evolution by natural selection. They adapt to changing nutrient and habitat circumstances. They likely speciate into diverse forms and undergo adaptive radiations as they fill available “niches”. Finally, as we treat cancer, tumor cells evolve avoidance behaviors and resistance mechanisms, just like pest species.
I will discuss how game theory and the principles of population ecology may provide a useful framework for thinking about and modeling cancer. Life is a game. Cancer is no different. Evolutionary game theory may be the appropriate approach to understanding the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of cancer. A hallmark of game theory is the study of adaptations in the context of the heritable phenotypes of others, their population sizes, and habitat circumstances. The talk shall unfold with a little natural selection, discussion of cancer as an evolutionary game and then applications of this framework to models of cancer as an invasive species, and models of the evolution of treatment resistance.

Biography: Joel S. Brown, Ph.D., Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago


Host: Dr. Parag Mallick, Center for Applied Molecular Medicine

Location: May Ormerod Harris Hall, Quinn Wing & Fisher Gallery (HAR) - Harkness Auditorium

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Yvonne Suarez