NIMBioS Seminar Series
In conjunction with the interdisciplinary activities of the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), a seminar series on topics in mathematical biology will be hosted at NIMBioS every other Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) in the Hallam Auditorium, Room 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd. Seminar speakers will focus on their research initiatives at the interface of mathematics and many areas of the life sciences. Light refreshments will be served in Room 205 beginning 30 minutes before each talk. Faculty and students from across the UT community are welcome to join us.
Speaker: Dr. Urszula Ledzewicz, Mathematics and Statistics, Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville, USA, and Lodz Univ. of Technology, Poland; NIMBioS Postdoctoral Fellows Invited Distinguished Visitor
Time/Date: Tuesday, April 19, 2016, 3:30*
Location: Room 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd.
Topic: Optimal protocols for combination therapies in cancer: how much, how often, in what sequence? Joint research with Heinz Schaettler (Washington Univ., St. Louis, USA).
Abstract: The questions "how much, how often, and in what sequence" anticancer drugs should be given to secure an optimal outcome are essential and far from being answered yet. Also, simple answers are not always the best ones. Actually, there is mounting medical evidence that "more is not necessarily better" and a properly calibrated dose which takes into account this complexity can lead to a better outcome. This has generated a search for what is called the biologically optimal dose (BOD) in the medical literature. Formulating mathematical models with an objective that reflects the overall goal of the therapy, like minimizing the tumor size and side effects, maximizing the actions of the immune system etc., leads to optimal control problems where mathematical analysis can answer some of these questions in a theoretical framework. In this talk, we present some of these problems, addressing challenges and open questions. The results of the analysis will be compared with medical and experimental data.
Urszula Ledzewicz holds the position of Distinguished Research Professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her field of interest is the application of tools of optimal control to mathematical models in biomedicine, more precisely, models for cancer treatments. She is the author of over 140 papers and two extensive research monographs published by Springer, the last one "Optimal Control for Mathematical Models of Cancer Therapies" published in October 2015. She is a member of nine editorial boards and recipient of several research grants from the NSF and other funding agencies.
*Join us for refreshments at 3 p.m.
Seminar Flyer (pdf)
Watch seminar online.For more information about this and other NIMBioS Seminars, visit /seminars.
NIMBioS
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University of Tennessee
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TN 37996-3410
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FAX: (865) 974-9461
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