Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Cancer

David Basanta: Moffitt Cancer Center, USA

David Basanta is an Associate Member at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. He is part of the Integrated Mathematical Oncology department and holds a courtesy appointment at the genitourinary oncology department. His group, CancerEvo, studies the role of cancer evolution in driving cancer progression and resistance to treatment. While intra tumor heterogeneity and genetic mutations are key aspects of somatic evolution, selection is driven by the ecosystem that cancer cells inhabit. CancerEvo’s research combines data from pre-clinical models and patients together with first-principles computational models to explore evolution and the ecosystem in the context of treatment.

Ignacio González Bravo: CNRS Montpellier, France

Dr Ignacio González Bravo is a biochemist by training with a PhD in molecular microbiology studying the evolution of bacterial polysialic capsules. Ignacio was introduced to cancer research during his postdoc years at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, working on the emergence and function of viral oncogenes. Ignacio later worked on the interface between cancer epidemiology and viral diversity and evolution, first as the head of the Infections and Cancer Laboratory at the Catalan Institute of Oncology and now as Research Director at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Montpellier. Ignacio uses viral induced-cancers as an experimental model. His main research program advocates for the introduction of evolutionary thinking as a central element in understanding the proximate and ultimate origins of cancer: from molecular mechanisms and functions to adaptation, from the natural history of the infection in the patient to the evolution of cancer susceptibility across species.