Maths is saving lives, US forensic expert to give insights

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: 7 December 2015

Mathematics is revolutionising cancer research and saving lives, leading international forensic bioinformatician from the United States, Professor Keith Baggerly, will demonstrate at a public event tomorrow.

Professor Keith Baggerly, from MD Anderson Cancer Centre, is renowned for his work finding flaws in cancer research that made headlines globally including on 60 Minutes and in the New York Times.

Professor Baggerly, who arrived in Sydney yesterday, said data processing in high-throughput biology was often not described well enough to allow for exact reproduction of the results.

“We give examples from oncology where patients in clinical trials were allocated to treatment arms on the basis of results invalidated by simple errors… putting patients at undue risk,” Professor Baggerly said.

The panel tomorrow will include Associate Professor Jean Yang, ARC Future Fellow and statistical bioinformatician from the University of Sydney, and Professor Graham Mann, from the Centre for Cancer Research, Westmead and the University of Sydney, who specialises in the study of melanoma.

The free public lecture is part of the week-long BioInfoSummer event, starting today, sponsored by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute.

Speakers at BioInfoSummer will include Professor David James from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and School of Molecular Bioscience, who recently co-published research in Nature Systems Biology & Applications, which used cutting-edge computational approaches to develop a gene signature for insulin sensitivity.

Mathematics Saves Lives: 6pm, 8 December 2015, Charles Perkins Auditorium, University of Sydney. People can register on the AMSI website or by emailing bioinfosummer2015@gmail.com.

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For interviews or further information please contact:

Vivienne Reiner, 02 9351 239, 0438 021 390, vivienne.reiner@sydney.edu.au