College of Science Distinguished Speaker: Mobilizing Mathematics for the Fight Against Cancer

College of Science Distinguished Speaker
Mobilizing Mathematics for the Fight Against Cancer

Dr. Trachette (Tracé) Jackson
Assistant Vice President for Research - DEI Initiatives
University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor
Professor of Mathematics 
University of Michigan

Abstract:
Mathematical oncologists apply mathematical and computational modeling approaches to every aspect of cancer biology, from tumor initiation to malignant spread and treatment response.  Using data-driven computational models is a powerful and practical way to investigate the therapeutic potential of novel combinations of various strategies for clinical cancer treatment.  This talk will showcase a suite of mathematical models designed to optimize the use of targeted drug treatment strategies in combination with immunotherapy.  The goal is to gain a more robust understanding of how specific tumor mutations affect the immune system and ultimately impact the efficacy of combination therapy.  Combined with existing and newly generated experimental data, these mathematical models are poised to improve the ability to connect promising drugs for clinical trials and reduce the time and costs associated with transitioning novel therapeutic approaches from “equations to bench to bedside.”

Speaker Bio:
Trachette Jackson is a professor in the Department of Mathematics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and Assistant Vice President for Research – DEI Initiatives at the University of Michigan. Motivated by addressing critical challenges associated with cancer therapeutics, developing multiscale mathematical models is the aim of much of Dr. Jackson's research.  She designs these models to optimize the use of anticancer agents that specifically target active molecular pathways that cancer cells use to promote their growth and survival.  Dr. Jackson is an award-winning educator and scholar who has received honors for her accomplishments in both areas.  In 2003, she became the second African American woman to receive the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Research Award in Mathematics; in 2005, she received the James S. McDonnell 21st Century Scientist Award; in 2008 Diverse Magazine honored her as one of the year's Emerging Scholars.  In 2010 she received the Blackwell-Tapia Prize, which biannually recognizes a mathematician for both their research achievements and for their contributions to addressing diversity in mathematics and in 2012 she was elected to the inaugural class of Simon’s Foundation Fellows, an honor featured in the NY Times.  More recently, Dr. Jackson was voted into the inaugural class of Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Fellows and the 2021 class of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Fellows, becoming the first African American to have this honor.

Intended Audience:
Beginners, undergraduates, graduates, experts. Those with interest in the topic.

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