Mathematics of Cancer: Open Mathematical Problems - IPAM

Mathematics of Cancer: Open Mathematical Problems

February 23 - 27, 2026

Schedule

All times in this Schedule are Pacific Time (PT)

Monday, February 23, 2026

Morning Session

08:55-09:00
Welcome and Opening Remarks
MODERATOR: Jackson
09:00-09:30
Renee Brady-Nicholls (Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute)
Developing Predictive Models Using Minimally-Invasive Biomarkers Part 1
09:40-09:50
Break
09:50-10:20
Renee Brady-Nicholls (Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute)
Developing Predictive Models Using Minimally-Invasive Biomarkers Part 2
10:30-10:40
Break
10:40-11:10
Dominik Wodarz (University of California, San Diego (UCSD))
Evolution in Spatially Structured Tumors Part 1
11:20-11:30
Break
11:30-12:00
Dominik Wodarz (University of California, San Diego (UCSD))
Evolution in Spatially Structured Tumors Part 2

Afternoon Session

12:10-13:40
Lunch (on your own)
MODERATOR: Weinberger
13:40-14:20
Herbert Levine (Northeastern University)
Cancer Drug Persistence; Modeling a Continuum of Phenotypic States
14:30-14:45
Break
14:45-15:25
Eduardo Sontag (Northeastern University)
A Mathematical Model of Evolution of Drug-Induced Resistance
15:35-15:50
Break
15:50-16:30
Reinhard Laubenbacher (University of Florida)
Mathematical Technology for Agent-Based Digital Twins
16:40-17:00
Lightning Poster Round
17:00-18:30
Poster Session & Reception (Hosted by IPAM)

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Morning Session

08:00-09:00
Check-In/Breakfast (Hosted by IPAM)
MODERATOR: Levine
09:00-09:30
Ben Raphael (Princeton University)
Models and Algorithms for Cancer Evolution Part 1
09:40-09:50
Break
09:50-10:20
Ben Raphael (Princeton University)
Models and Algorithms for Cancer Evolution Part 2
10:30-10:45
Break
10:45-11:25
Charles Epstein (University of Pennsylvania)
The Kimura Diffusion Equation in Population Genetics, Theory and Numerics
11:35-11:50
Break
11:50-12:30
Heather Harrington (Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics)
Topological Data Analysis for Analysing Cancer Organisation

Afternoon Session

12:40-14:40
Lunch (on your own)
MODERATOR: Komarova
14:40-15:20
Luis Aparicio (Columbia University)
Random Matrix Theory Applications to Biology
15:30-16:00
Break
16:00-16:40
Ingmar Glauche (Technische Universität Dresden )
From Binary Switches to Continuous Landscapes: Challenges in Modeling Hematopoietic Stem Cell Dynamics and Clonal Progression

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Morning Session

08:00-09:00
Check-In/Breakfast (Hosted by IPAM)
MODERATOR: Sontag
09:00-09:30
Smita Krishnaswamy (Yale University)
Virtual Talk: Inferring Dynamic Cellular Trajectories and Underlying Cellular Regulatory Networks with Neural and Graph ODE Models Part 1
09:40-09:50
Break
09:50-10:20
Smita Krishnaswamy (Yale University)
Virtual Talk: Inferring Dynamic Cellular Trajectories and Underlying Cellular Regulatory Networks with Neural and Graph ODE Models Part 2
10:30-10:45
Break
10:45-11:25
Tuca Auffinger (Northwestern University)
Open Mathematical Problems in Manifold Learning for Single-Cell Data
11:35-11:50
Break
11:50-12:30
Andrea Bertozzi (University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA))
Virtual Talk: Machine Learning for High Throughput DNA-Aptamer Screening and Selection

Afternoon Session

12:40-12:45
Group Photo
12:45-14:40
Lunch (on your own)
MODERATOR: Wodarz
14:40-15:20
Ruth Williams (University of California, San Diego (UCSD))
Fragility of Stochastic Dynamics in Autocatalytic Reaction Networks (of Togashi-Kaneko Type)
15:30-16:00
Break
16:00-16:40
Konstantin Mischaikow (Rutgers University New Brunswick/Piscataway)
Dynamics of Regulatory Networks

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Morning Session

08:00-09:00
Check-In/Breakfast (Hosted by IPAM)
MODERATOR: Wilkie
09:00-09:30
Andrew Blumberg (Columbia University)
Manifold Learning and Optimal Transport in Genomics Part 1
09:40-09:50
Break
09:50-10:20
Andrew Blumberg (Columbia University)
Manifold Learning and Optimal Transport in Genomics Part 2
10:30-10:45
Break
10:45-11:25
Samantha Riesenfeld (University of Chicago)
Insights from Developing Hybrid Quantum-Classical Algorithms for Biomarker Discovery in Multimodal Cancer Data
11:35-11:50
Break
11:50-12:30
Michael Perlmutter (Boise State University)
The Geometric Scattering Transform for High-dimensional Data Analysis

Afternoon Session

12:40-14:40
Lunch (on your own)
MODERATOR: Laubenbacher
14:40-15:20
Arne Traulsen (MPI for Evolutionary Biology)
Evolutionary dynamics in Small Network Structured Populations
15:30-16:00
Break
16:00-16:40
Andrea Bild (City Of Hope)
A Predictive, Biology-Driven Framework to Guide Cancer Therapy

Friday, February 27, 2026

Morning Session

08:00-09:00
Check-In/Breakfast (Hosted by IPAM)
MODERATOR: Banuelos
09:00-09:40
Tibor Antal (University of Edinburgh)
Modelling Metastasis Formation
09:50-10:05
Break
10:05-10:45
Hongkai Zhao (Duke University)
Simple and Efficient Fictitious Play for Mean-Field Games
10:55-11:10
Break
11:10-11:50
Jasmine Foo (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)
Virtual Talk: Role of Growth and Selection in Site Frequency Spectra of Evolving Populations

Afternoon Session

12:00-14:00
Lunch (on your own)
MODERATOR: Komarova
14:00-14:40
Paul Newton (University of Southern California (USC))
Gaming the Cancer-Immunity Cycle by Synchronizing the Dose Schedules
14:50-15:20
Break
15:20-16:00
Lorin Crawford (Microsoft Research New England)
When more isn't better: A Lesson from Rethinking Scale in Single-cell Foundation Models
16:10-17:00
Future Directions Discussion
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