Ludmil B. Alexandrov, Ph.D.

The concept of precision oncology has introduced state-of-the-art cancer treatments that offer patients some of the best options for beating cancers. However, making sure the right patients have access to the right anti-cancer therapeutics remains challenging.

Take cancers with homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). They have certain characteristics (e.g., cells cannot effectively repair DNA double-strand breaks using the typical pathway)—and these characteristics make these cancers particularly vulnerable to certain cancer drugs: PARP inhibitors and platinum-based chemotherapy. But, identifying if a tumor has HRD characteristics requires molecular profiling of the tumor—tests that add significant time and cost to do. All of this led a group of researchers to experiment if a deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) tool could be trained to do the job instead… Continue reading.

Scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have shed new light on the development of liver cancer, the sixth most frequently diagnosed cancer and fourth leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The study, published in Nature, reveals a complex interplay between cellular metabolism and DNA damage that drives the progression of fatty liver disease to cancer. The findings suggest new paths forward for preventing and treating liver cancer and have significant implications on our understanding of cancer’s origin and the effects of diet on our DNA.

The incidence of the most common form of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), has grown by 25-30% in the past two decades, with much of the growth attributed to the dramatic rise in fatty liver disease, which currently affects 25% of adult Americans. About 20% of individuals with fatty liver disease have a severe form of the disease, called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), that greatly increases the risk of HCC. However, how MASH transitions to liver cancer is not well understood… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Ludmil B. Alexandrov, Ph.D., Associate Professor at University of California, San Diego to its College of Fellows.

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, comprised of the top two percent of engineers in these fields. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”

Professor Alexandrov was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows “for elucidating cancer evolution and genomic landscape, developing cancer biomarkers and mutational signatures, and creating novel computational tools for analysis…. Continue reading.