"Patterns and discoveries in the evolution of cancer rates across species"

Carlo Maley is a biologist who specializes in cancer, evolution and computational biology. He works at the intersection of these fields.

Professor Maley and his research team apply evolutionary and ecological theory to three problems in cancer. First, they investigate neoplastic progression: the evolutionary dynamics among cells of a tumor that drive progression from normal tissue to malignant cancers. Second, they examine acquired therapeutic resistance: the evolutionary dynamics by which therapies select for resistance and fail to cure cancer. Third, they look into the evolution of cancer suppression mechanisms in large, long-lived animals such as elephants and whales (a problem called Peto’s Paradox).

His team uses genomic data mining, phylogenetics, computational modeling and wet lab techniques to solve these problems. In their work, the Maley team focus on developing better methods to prevent cancer and improve cancer management.