WWU hosts cancer researcher

An associate professor of cancer biology at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Alissa Weaver presents “Understanding Cancer Progression: Bringing Biology and Mathematics to the Challenge,” 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 23, in Fraser Hall 4 on Western Washington University campus.

Weaver earned her doctorate and medical degrees from the University of Virginia in 1998.

Following a postdoctoral fellowship in cell biology and clinical pathology residency at Washington University in St. Louis, she went to Vanderbilt in 2003.

The overall goal of her research is to understand the mechanisms of tumor progression.

Presented by the WWU College of Sciences and Technology, admission to the lecture is free and open to the public.

In this lecture, Weaver will discuss the efforts of Vanderbilt’s integrative cancer biology center for experimental biology, mathematical and computational modeling to understand the process of cancer progression.

Mathematical modeling holds great promise as a tool for biology and medicine. However, in order for mathematical models to be useful and testable, they must have the ability to integrate experimental data. Unlike models used routinely in weather prediction and economics, most mathematical models of biological processes are difficult both to parameterize with biological data and to test with experimentation. Conversely, most of biology could benefit from a theoretical framework but is performed in its absence.