Abstract: In solid tumours, the presence of regions of abnormally low oxygen levels (i.e., hypoxia) is recognised as a major driver of tumour progression and therapeutic resistance. Yet, how exactly oxygen levels shape cancer cell responses and disease dynamics in vivo remains poorly understood. While in vitro models of hypoxia exist, they often fail to capture the complex oxygenation dynamics of real tumours. In this talk, I will discuss how mathematical modelling can be used to address the gap between in vitro and in vivo experimental conditions. As an example, I will present our work on cell-cycle dysregulation in cancer cells exposed to fluctuating oxygen environments – namely cyclic hypoxia. In this work, we have integrated mechanistic mathematical modelling and cell culture experiments to explore and predict cell responses to a wide range of (cyclic) hypoxia conditions. Our results uncover the possible multifaced role of hypoxia in shaping the heterogeneous composition of vascularized tumours.

Short bio: Giulia earned her doctorate in Applied Mathematics from the University of Oxford, where she worked under the supervision of Prof. Helen Byrne, Prof. Philip Maini, and Dr. Joe Pitt-Francis. She is currently an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellow in the Mathematical Biology group at University College London (UCL) and a 2024 L’Oréal-UNESCO UK & Ireland Rising Talent Fellow. Giulia’s research focuses on mechanistic modelling to explore the emergent dynamics of complex multiscale systems, with applications ranging from soft materials, like hydrogels, to collective cell migration and tumour biology. In particular, she is interested in using multiscale modelling to study how biochemical and physical signals regulate cell behaviour and tissue dynamics in development and cancer.