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Dear Colleagues,
Another exciting year in the books! Despite challenges, our Institute continued to make remarkable progress in advancing cancer research. Each advancement brings us closer to understanding and addressing the complexities of cancer.
Advancing Research through Data and AI
Our researchers continue to push the boundaries of computational biology and AI-driven innovations.
The Azizi group identified a specific population of immune cells that plays a critical role in the treatment of relapsed acute myeloid leukemia. They also pioneered a diffusion artificial intelligence model, Squidiff, to predict cellular responses and accelerate precision medicine. In collaboration with the Blei and Pe’er labs, the team introduced Decipher, a deep generative model for integrating and visualizing single-cell data across healthy and disease contexts.
Khanh Dinh’s group established two innovative computational tools: CINner, which reveals how chromosomal instability influences the selection of specific cancer types; and ABC-SMC-(D)RF, a more efficient random forest-based Approximate Bayesian Computation method for more reliable and robust statistical inference across many fields of science.
Yue Wang and collaborators implemented TRENDY, a deep learning approach that improves the accuracy and interpretability of gene regulatory networks. Sanja Vicković’s lab pioneered cSplotch, a new computational framework offering a blueprint for investigating how complex tissues change over time, with broad applications for cancer dynamics and regenerative medicine.
A team of researchers led by Bianca Dumitrascu designed a new computational pipeline that integrates spatial transcriptomics with mechanical force inference to reveal how physical forces shape tissue development. Canoll’s lab, in collaboration with Peterka’s group, uncovered how gliomas (aggressive brain tumors) disrupt brain function and lead to debilitating neurological symptoms such as seizures and cognitive impairments.
Together, these innovations demonstrate the IICD’s commitment to harnessing data-driven discovery to advance cancer research and broader biomedical science.
Accolades
Our members continue to receive recognition for their innovative work. Elham Azizi was awarded the Vilcek Prize to celebrate her innovative approach to cancer science and her role as a leader among immigrant scientists. Khanh Dinh joined as a co-investigator on a newly awarded NMRC Open Fund-Young Individual Research Grant led by Alvin Ng (NTU Singapore).
Bianca Dumitrascu received two grants: a MIRA R35 Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and a 2025 RISE Seed Grant from Columbia University. Brent Stockwell received an NCI P01 Grant to advance ferroptosis research. He was also ranked among the top 2% of scientists by Stanford and Elsevier, and the top 50 scientists in the world across all scientific fields.
Joy Fan earned the Yuen-huo and Chao-chin Huang Award in recognition of her exceptional potential in biomedical engineering and public health. Jiacheng Gu received the Trainee Associate Membership Paper of the Year Award from the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center for his publication titled “Mapping multimodal phenotypes to perturbations in cells and tissue with CRISPRmap” (Nat. Biotechnol. 2025). Aaron Zweig was awarded the Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship.
Ethan Cohen (Alliance’25) received the Mathematical Modelling and Biodiversity Chair Prize. Marina Milea (SRP’25) was awarded the Edmund Baermann Award, the Slagowitz Family Scholarship, the City College Fellowship, and the Sharon D. Cosloy Undergraduate Research Award in Biology at City College of New York, while Anabel Ojeda (SRP’23) was honored with the Dean Student Circle for Outstanding Academic Achievement at Adelphi University.
Strengthening Education and Engagement
Our Institute is dedicated to making science accessible at every age. To this end, we expanded our public engagement and science education programs and engaged over 1,100 participants in the 2024-2025 academic year.
We established two new collaborations with K-12 outreach initiatives. The Institute is sponsoring STEM Starters, a Columbia graduate student-led science outreach organization that offers hands-on science workshops for local elementary and middle school students and their families in Harlem. Additionally, several of our researchers presented to high school students as part of the SHAPE initiative, a pre-college program for rising sophomores, juniors, seniors, and recent high school graduates.
Our undergraduate programs are going strong with the Institute hosting the fourth cohort of Alliance and Summer Research Program interns. To support continued research engagement for former summer interns, the SRP Emerging Scholars Award now offers funding to labs that wish to extend the interns’ work beyond the formal program period. The IICD also continued its collaboration with the Department of Mathematics to support the Columbia Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences in Mathematical Modeling program and the GROW 2025 Conference.
We hosted the second iteration of our Methods in Single-Cell Data Integration and Optimal Transport week-long workshop taught by Drs. Elham Azizi and Andrew Blumberg, assisted by many IICD researchers and guest lecturers. We also expanded our offerings with From Theory to Practice: IICD Workshop Series, which offers Columbia graduate students and postdoctoral scholars the opportunity to build research skills in a focused, hands-on setting. The inaugural session was held in the fall semester with a Quantitative Immunology Workshop led by Dr. Sanket Rane.
Throughout the year, the Institute curates an engaging seminar series featuring insights into the latest cancer research from leaders in mathematical and computational sciences. Welcoming audiences both in-person and online, the series continues to foster collaborations and spark new ideas. Many of our seminars are recorded and can be accessed on our YouTube channel.
Finally, save the date for our next symposium on artificial intelligence and cancer research, which will be held on March 16, 2026. More details will be announced soon.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead to 2026, I would like to recognize the outstanding efforts of our researchers, students, and staff toward our scientific and outreach initiatives. The accomplishments highlighted in this letter are the result of the dedication and commitment of our IICD members. I also want to thank our collaborators and partners at Columbia and beyond, without whom this work could not be done. Finally, I am grateful to everyone who engages with and uplifts our mission.
I look forward to what we will accomplish together in the coming year, as we continue to grow, innovate, and strengthen our impact.
With warm regards and best wishes for the new year,
Simon Tavaré
Director, Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics
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