Dr. Renee Brady Develops Mathematical Models to Improve Cancer Treatments
Renee Brady-Nicholls, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Integrated Mathematical Oncology Department at Moffitt Cancer Center. Her research focuses on using minimally invasive biomarkers to develop predictive mathematical models of individual patient responses to cancer therapy.
“I’ve always had a passion for mathematics,” said Renee regarding her early academic interests. Math was an intuitive subject for her with a set of logical rules that always produced a concrete, foreseeable outcome, but biology was a different story. She explained, “I ran away from all the biology classes.” She distanced herself from science until graduate school, where she was introduced to mathematical biology and learned how the intersection of these fields could be used to predict health outcomes.
As a postdoctoral fellow at the Moffitt Cancer Center, Renee was supported by the Physical Sciences-Oncology Network (PS-ON) and delved into mathematical oncology to address complex cancer research questions. So far, her most impactful research is the development of a predictive treatment response model for patients with metastatic prostate cancer, using patient-specific data from a clinical trial conducted at Moffitt. With her model, she demonstrated how evolutionary dynamics could be used to predict patient-specific response to adaptive therapy.
Throughout Renee’s career, interactions with patient advocates have been important for her cancer research. She says, “having a patient in the room grounds us.” Discussions with patients helped her design new approaches to improve treatment. In her words, “…if that's not feasible for a patient, it doesn't matter what our model says.” Additionally, when working on a mathematical model to extend time to disease progression, one patient advocate reshaped her view of her project. He told her that delaying cancer progression by even just four months could be the difference between a father being able to walk his daughter down the aisle or not. Overall, working with patient advocates helped her incorporate the patient experience into her modeling work.
As an Assistant Professor, Renee’s research interests have broadened, and she is expanding her studies to different tumor types. When discussing the valuable ways her basic research can aid others, Renee said, “If even one patient’s life can be improved, that’s what I’m aiming for with my work.” She is grateful for the continued interest in and support of mathematical oncology for advancing the understanding of cancer. In the future, she says, “I hope that my work will have a long-term impact on the lives of patients and their families.”