Dr. Trachette Jackson, a CSBC investigator at the University of Michigan, uses data-driven mathematical modeling to identify the best cancer treatment strategies to translate into the clinic.

During her undergraduate training in math, she heard a talk about mathematical biology by a pioneer in the field. This lecture helped her realize that she wanted to pursue a career combining math and the life sciences.

This led her to graduate school in applied math where she started to venture into mathematical oncology. During one of her courses, she ended up meeting some chemists who worked at Bristol Myers Squibb on drug targeting and cancer. They became her mentors and experimental collaborators as she started developing mathematical models to figure out the best ways to deliver cancer drugs for her dissertation.

Now, as a professor and researcher, she constructs models using differential equations to improve the dosing schedule of combination cancer treatments.