Recruiting beneficiary: Queen Mary University London, United Kingdom
Internal supervisors: Dr. Weini Huang, Dr. Dudley Stark
Brief project description: We will study how different mechanisms of resistance (e.g. genetic mutations, phenotypic/epigenetic changes, combination of both) in cancer cells impact patient treatment prospects and how we adjust treatment to maximise its efficacy under these different mechanisms. This will be done via varying assumptions of existing game-theoretical models but including resistance as an evolving trait. We will connect theoretical predictions with measurable quantities such as genetic composition of tumour cells in publically available cancer data, in order to reveal and quantify the impact of genetic and non-genetic mechanisms on resistance evolution.
Updates: Christo’s project on understanding the evolution of resistance in cancer using stochastic methods has begun from a theoretical front. Before including selection, Christo has been working on a neutral evolutionary model of mutation accumulation, with the plan to include resistance and treatment at a later stage. He has analytically studied distributions of these mutations in growing populations and will be connecting this theoretical work with both bulk and single cell data.
Delft University of Technology
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management
Building 31
Jaffalaan 5
2628 BX Delft
The Netherlands
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the
Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement number 955708.