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Seed grant in partnership with the Data Science Institute

Awardees 2019/2020

In partnership with the Data Science Institute, the Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics awarded two seeds grants that align with their shared mission of improving the understanding of cancer biology, origins, treatment and prevention through data-driven methods and processes.Each team will receive up to $100,000 for one year and be eligible for a second year of funding.

Project Title: Modeling the Dynamics of Young Onset Colorectal Cancer using Big Population Data

Investigators: Wan Yang, Mary Beth Terry, Jianhua Hu, Piero Dalerba

Using multiple nationally representative large-scale exposure and cancer incidence datasets, this project will build a novel model-inference system to study the dynamics of colorectal cancer, test a range of risk mechanisms over the life course, and identify key risk factors underlying the recent increase in young onset colorectal cancer incidence in the United States to support more effective early prevention.

Project Title: Probabilistic modeling of intercellular interactions that drive ferroptosis susceptibility of therapy-resistant cancer cells

Investigators: Elham Azizi, Jellert Gaublomme, Brent Stockwell

In this project, we leverage machine learning techniques to combine two types of single-cell data modalities with the goal of achieving a more comprehensive characterization of heterogeneous cell states in the tumor microenvironment. Specifically, we will develop probabilistic models to elucidate the role of intercellular interactions in driving susceptibility of treatment-resistant mesenchymal tumor cells to a newly discovered ferroptotic vulnerability, which could offer a therapeutic avenue to prevent survival of these cancer cells that are prone to metastasis.