Teaching Team
- Dr. Luis Zapata Ortiz. Course leader, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), UK
- Dr. Alex Di Genova. Associate professor, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile
- Dr. Emma Leschiera. Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs Léonard de Vinci, France
- Dr. Alejandro Maass. Principal Investigator, CMM / Universidad de Chile
- Dr. Beatriz Monterde. Postdoctoral Scientist, ICR, UK
Dr. Luis Zapata Ortiz
Course leader, specialist in mathematical modeling and cancer evolution, PI Team Evolutionary Immunogenomics, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London.
Dr Luis Zapata Ortiz is investigating the fascinating interplay between the immune system and genetic variability within our bodies using genomic technologies and algorithms for detecting these changes. He is a member of scientific societies, and has a broad network of collaborations in the UK, EU, USA, Chile and Latin America.
Dr. Alex Di Genova
Bioinformatics Engineer. PhD in Complex Systems Engineering from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. Associate professor of computational biology at the Universidad de O’Higgins and associate researcher at the CMM. His research focuses on the development of new algorithms for the analysis of genomic data and characterizing genomic rearrangements in human cancers to understand mutational processes in disease progression. He has developed academic roles in computer science, algorithms and biotechnology, as well as participating in genomics projects of international relevance.
Dr. Emma Leschiera
Lecturer and research scientist at the Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs Léonard de Vinci, Paris La Défense (France). Member of the De Vinci Research Center.
PhD in Applied Mathematics. Her main interest is the mathematical modelling of biological systems, in particular tumour-immune dynamics. This research aims to have a better understanding of how immunotherapies could be used to enhance the effectiveness of the anti-tumour immune responses.
Dr. Alejandro Maass
PhD in Pure Mathematics. Full Professor at the Department of Mathematical Engineering of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at University of Chile, Director of International Relations of the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) and associate researcher of the Center for Genome Regulation. Appointed as Fellow-Ambassadeur by the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) of France.
Dr. Beatriz Monterde
Postdoctoral Scientist, Team Evolutionary Immunogenomics, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London.
Dr. Monterde holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the University of Cantabria, where her doctoral research focused on characterizing altered molecular pathways in patients with mutations in the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex and exploring their potential for cancer therapy.
Course Objective
This course provides students with advanced and practical knowledge in mathematical modeling and data science/genomics applied to tumor evolution. It covers essential concepts for understanding biological systems, including how to represent them with mathematical models and analyze their asymptotic behavior. Practical examples related to cell growth and cell interactions will be explored.
Students will learn fundamental concepts of cancer evolution and population genetics, relating mathematical models and evolutionary theory to real data obtained from cancer patients. The course includes a practical session on building numerical schemes for ODEs and another session exploring stochastic branching processes to understand tumor-immune coevolution.
By combining theory and practice, the course promotes active participation and collaborative learning.
