Richard G. Pestell is an Australian American oncologist, endocrinologist and research scientist. Pestell was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to medicine and medical education in 2019 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was previously Executive Vice President of Thomas Jefferson University and Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center of Thomas Jefferson University. He founded six biotechnology companies developing cancer therapy and diagnostics. He is currently Distinguished Professor, Translational Medical Research, and the President of the Pennsylvania Cancer and Regenerative Medicine Research Center at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute.
Wafik El-Deiry is an American physician and cancer researcher who is the Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University. He is also the Director of the Cancer Center at Brown University, and the Director of the Joint Program in Cancer Biology at Brown University and its affiliated hospitals. He was previously deputy director of Translational Research at Fox Chase Cancer Center, where he was also co-Leader of the Molecular Therapeutics Program.
Paul Workman is a British scientist noted for his work on the discovery and development of pharmaceutical agents in the field of oncology. He was President and CEO of The Institute of Cancer Research in London from 2014 to 2021.
A cancer biomarker refers to a substance or process that is indicative of the presence of cancer in the body. A biomarker may be a molecule secreted by a tumor or a specific response of the body to the presence of cancer. Genetic, epigenetic, proteomic, glycomic, and imaging biomarkers can be used for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and epidemiology. Ideally, such biomarkers can be assayed in non-invasively collected biofluids like blood or serum.
George C. Prendergast is an American biomedical scientist. His research has focused on cancer pathobiology and immunology. Since 2004, he has been the president and CEO of Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, a cancer-focused research center in the U.S. He is also the co-director of the Program in Cancer Cell Biology & Signaling at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University.
Cancer systems biology encompasses the application of systems biology approaches to cancer research, in order to study the disease as a complex adaptive system with emerging properties at multiple biological scales. Cancer systems biology represents the application of systems biology approaches to the analysis of how the intracellular networks of normal cells are perturbed during carcinogenesis to develop effective predictive models that can assist scientists and clinicians in the validations of new therapies and drugs. Tumours are characterized by genomic and epigenetic instability that alters the functions of many different molecules and networks in a single cell as well as altering the interactions with the local environment. Cancer systems biology approaches, therefore, are based on the use of computational and mathematical methods to decipher the complexity in tumorigenesis as well as cancer heterogeneity.
The Physical Sciences in Oncology Network (PS-ON) is a network of centers and projects set up by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) to link the physical sciences with the study of cancer. The program was launched in 2009 with Physical Sciences in Oncology Centers (PS-OCs) investigating complex and challenging questions in cancer research from a physical sciences perspective. To explore how the NCI could continue to support the integration of physical sciences and cancer research, a Think Tank and series of Strategic Workshops were held in 2012. These meetings served to update opportunities at the interface of physical sciences and cancer research and guided the development of the second phase including Physical Sciences in Oncology Projects (PS-OPs).
Patient derived xenografts (PDX) are models of cancer where the tissue or cells from a patient's tumor are implanted into an immunodeficient or humanized mouse. It is a form of xenotransplantation. PDX models are used to create an environment that allows for the continued growth of cancer after its removal from a patient. In this way, tumor growth can be monitored in the laboratory, including in response to potential therapeutic options. Cohorts of PDX models can be used to determine the therapeutic efficiency of a therapy against particular types of cancer, or a PDX model from a specific patient can be tested against a range of therapies in a 'personalized oncology' approach.
Trachette Levon Jackson is an American mathematician who is a professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan and is known for work in mathematical oncology. She uses many different approaches, including continuous and discrete mathematical models, numerical simulations, and experiments to study tumor growth and treatment. Specifically, her lab is interested in "molecular pathways associated with intratumoral angiogenesis," "cell-tissue interactions associated with tumor-induced angiogenesis," and "tumor heterogeneity and cancer stem cells."
Lisette G. de Pillis is an American mathematician at Harvey Mudd College and holds the Norman F. Sprague, Jr. Professorship of Life Sciences at Harvey Mudd. She chaired the Department of Mathematics in 2008-2009 and again from 2014 to 2019. She directed the Harvey Mudd College Global Clinic program from 2009 to 2014. She is also the co-director of the Harvey Mudd College Center for Quantitative Life Sciences.
Guillermina 'Gigi' Lozano is an American geneticist. She is a Professor and Hubert L. Olive Stringer Distinguished Chair in Oncology in Honor of Sue Gribble Stringer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Lozano is recognised for her studies of the p53 tumour suppressor pathway, characterising the protein as a regulator of gene expression and that is disturbed in many cancers. She was the first to recognize that the p53 gene encoded a transcriptional activator of other genes Her lab has made significant contributions by developing and analyzing mouse models to study the activities of mutant p53, revealing how these mutations drive tumor development and progression. She also found out how the Mdm2 and Mdm4 proteins work in the body, especially in stopping cancer and controlling p53. This research suggested that blocking Mdm2/4 could be a new way to treat cancer.
The host response to cancer therapy is defined as a physiological response of the non-malignant cells of the body to a specific cancer therapy. The response is therapy-specific, occurring independently of cancer type or stage.
Sheila K. Singh MD, PhD, FRCSC is a chief pediatric neurosurgeon at McMaster Children's Hospital in Ontario, Canada. She is also Professor of Surgery and Biochemistry, the Division Head of Neurosurgery at Hamilton Health Sciences, the Research Director for McMaster's Division of Neurosurgery, and a scientist/principal investigator appointed to the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute at McMaster University.
Evolutionary therapy is a subfield of evolutionary medicine that utilizes concepts from evolutionary biology in management of diseases caused by evolving entities such as cancer and microbial infections. These evolving disease agents adapt to selective pressure introduced by treatment, allowing them to develop resistance to therapy, making it ineffective.
Helen M. Byrne is a mathematician based at the University of Oxford. She is Professor of Mathematical Biology in the university's Mathematical Institute and a Professorial Fellow in Mathematics at Keble College. Her work involves developing mathematical models to describe biomedical systems including tumours. She was awarded the 2019 Society for Mathematical Biology Leah Edelstein-Keshet Prize for exceptional scientific achievements and for mentoring other scientists and was appointed a Fellow of the Society in 2021.
Chelsea Camille Pinnix is an American oncologist who is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Director of the Residency Program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). Having joined the faculty 2012, her research looks to improve the outcomes of patients who suffer from lymphoma.
Alberto Bardelli is an Italian geneticist and cancer researcher, expert in the field of precision medicine. He is a full professor of histology at the Department of Oncology, University of Turin and Scientific Director of IFOM, the AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology.
Chi Van Dang is a hematological oncologist and researcher, currently serving as the Scientific Director of Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. He is known for his research on genetics, the MYC gene and the cellular energy metabolism of cancer.
Recurrent cancer is any form of cancer that has returned or recurred when a fraction of primary tumor cells evade the effects of treatment and survive in small spaces that are undetectable by diagnostic tests. The initial tumor may become the site of cancer’s return or it may spread to another part of the body. These surviving cells accumulate various genetic changes over time, eventually producing a new tumor cell. It can take up to weeks, months, or even years for cancer to return. Following surgery and/or chemotherapy or radiotherapy, certain tumor cells may persist and develop resistance to treatment and eventually develop into new tumors. The rate of cancer recurrence is determined by many factors, including age, sex, cancer type, treatment duration, stage of advancement, grade of original tumor, and cancer-specific risk factors. If recurrent cancer has already moved to other body parts or has developed chemo-resistance then it may be more aggressive than original cancer. In general, the severity of cancer increases with a shorter duration of time between initial treatment and its return.
Gabriele Ursula Dachs is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in the how cancer cells respond to hypoxia, and developing novel treatments for cancer.
