MBS/Pharmacy Joint Seminar - "Unraveling the Evolutionary Principles of Cancer"

Mar

2025

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Hybrid (view details)

Featured Speaker(s): Dr. Matthew Jones

MBS/Pharmacy Joint Seminar

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Description

The Molecular Biosciences Department and the College of Pharmacy welcome Dr. Matthew Jones for a joint seminar.

Dr. Jones completed his PhD in Bioinformatics at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley and is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University in Howard Chang's lab.

Dr. Jones seminar, “Unraveling the Evolutionary Principles of Cancer” will be held on Monday, March 3 at 12:00 PM in BME 3.204 and via zoom.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Jones' research.

Abstract

My current research focuses on building more predictive models of tumor evolution, with a focus on how circular, oncogenic extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) reshape traditional rules of inheritance to accelerate tumor evolution and overcome targeted therapies. A key outcome of my research thus far is contributing to the discovery that ecDNA amplifications are often co-inherited during mitosis, leading to non-coding oncogenic amplifications and new therapeutic opportunities. Previously, I developed single-cell evolving lineage tracing technologies and computational tools. In this, I developed Cassiopeia, a software suite for reconstructing single-cell phylogenies from continuous CRISPR/Cas9 barcoding data. We used these tools to study how aggressive cancers evolve from a single transformed cell and eventually metastasize throughout a body.