Emergent Properties of Cancer Square Table

This proposal seeks support for a Square-Table (SQT) meeting that is one of three meetings co-organized by the Division of Cancer Biology (DCB) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to explore fundamental research at the nexus of the physical sciences and mathematics, synthetic and systems biology, and cancer research. The goal of the meetings is to foster stimulating discussions between researchers whose work at the frontiers of their own discipline may not yet intersect in a substantial way yet but whose exchange of knowledge, thoughts, and ideas could identify research discoveries and directions that have high potential impact on, and may be transformative for, cancer research.

This meeting, entitled SQT- Emergent Properties of Cancer, will complement the other two meetings on SQT- Living Materials and SQT- Windows on the Cell. The goal are discussion of fundamental challenges and opportunities at and over the horizon (10-15-year time frame) at the interface between fundamental sciences (typically funded by the Directorate of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the NSF) and cancer research (typically funded by NCI) and needed methodological developments that could enable transformative research.

The outcome will be a synthesized report of the discussions and questions raised in the meeting. Along with the reports of the other two SQT meetings, these reports will provide an intellectual map of future questions and serve both NCI and NSF to understand the scientific intersections that are most interesting and important.

Recent advances in the physical sciences and mathematics relevant to biology, in synthetic and systems biology, and in cancer research have highlighted the need to explore the intersection of these areas at and over the horizon, 10-15-years out, for new opportunities and identifying the gaps. This Square-Table (SQT) meeting is intended to bring together distinct and non-interacting disciplines of the fundamental sciences and math, with synthetic biology, and cancer researchers.

This SQT meeting will focus on Emergent Properties of Cancer and is the third of three meetings, complementing Living Materials and Windows on the Cell SQT meetings sponsored jointly between the Division of Cancer Biology (DCB) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF). This SQT meeting will also initiate and foster new partnerships between groups of researchers who generally don’t interact but whose separate research endeavors can complement and foster synergistic work with strong potentially transformative impact in biotechnology and medicine.

Interactions and interdisciplinary collaborations between the participants can provide a solid ground for training the next generation of scientists, engineers and researchers. The outcome will be a synthesized report of the discussions and questions raised in the meeting. Along with the reports of the other two SQT meetings, these reports will provide an intellectual map of future questions and serve both NCI and NSF to understand the scientific intersections that are most interesting and important.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.