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DREAM-High

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  • Home
  • DREAM-High Course
  • Enrichment Activities
  • About DREAM-High
  • Contact Us
  • DREAM-High Summer 2024
  • News
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What is Cancer?

Cancer is a group of diseases caused by changes in DNA that alter cell behavior and cause uncontrollable cell growth and malignancy. 

Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide

Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide

Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer type. Last year, there were 270K new cases in the US and 2M cases worldwide.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer Death

Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide

Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide

Lung cancer causes the most cancer deaths. Last year, there were 155K deaths in the US and 1.8M deaths worldwide.

What is Systems Biology?

Systems Biology is based on the understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. 

Systems Biology of Cancer

  • We will learn about the many systems that collectively contribute to our understanding of cancer, from the genes expressed to the ways proteins interact to how abnormal functioning of cells contribute to cancer in an individual. Considering these aspects for many patients at once is a powerful approach. 
  • The field of Systems Biology is collaborative and integrates many scientific disciplines – biology, computer science, engineering, bioinformatics, physics and others – to predict how systems change, with the goal of finding solutions to the world’s most pressing health and environmental issues.
  • From our genome to the molecules and cells that make up our organs and all the way out to ourselves in the world: We are fundamentally a network of networks. Systems biology looks across scales to integrate behaviors at different levels, to formulate hypotheses for biological function, and to provide insights into dynamical biological changes and disease.  

Cancer systems biology in practice

Professor Andrea Califano from the Department of Systems Biology at Columbia University discusses what systems biology is, its importance in cancer research and how it's being used in precision medicine.  

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