June 4-8
2018
Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Cancer 2018 was a course aimed at researchers currently working in cancer and/or evolution and ecology. It was particularly suited to evolutionary biologists and ecologists interested in moving into cancer research, and to cancer biologists and oncologists who lack formal training in evolutionary biology.
For more information about the course content please visit the course website.
Course topics
Introduction to the evolution and ecology of cancer
- Understanding vulnerability to cancer
- The evolution of cancer clones
- The cancer ecosystem
- Evolutionary prognostics
- Thwarting therapeutic resistance
Learning outcomes
After attending this course, participants will be able to:
Describe the principles of evolutionary biology as applied to somatic cell evolution in cancer (e.g. generation of diversity, driver mutations, epistasis, selective pressures, cellular co-operation and competition, units of selection).
- Describe the principles from ecology relevant to studying tumour microenvironments.
- Develop proficiency with the tools for measuring the evolution and ecology of tumours.
- Evaluate those tools and metrics used to measure ecosystems and evolution that can be applied to cancer.
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of cancer prognostics, particularly evolutionary prognostics
- Apply evolutionary and ecological approaches to the problem of therapeutic resistance.
