Abstract: Quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) encompasses multiscale mechanism-based modeling that couples pharmacology with mathematical modeling of biological processes implicated in diseases. QSP models seek to address a diverse set of problems in the discovery and development of therapies and are being leveraged in both pharma and academic settings. In this talk, I will give an overview of the growing area of quantitative systems pharmacology and its overlap with the more traditional area of mathematical biology and applied mathematics. To illustrate, I will discuss a few vignettes with published examples how QSP was leveraged to impact oncology drug development.

Bio: Blerta Shtylla, PhD is Research Fellow at Pfizer. She serves as team lead for the Quantitative Systems Pharmacology team supporting the oncology portfolio. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Shtylla held multiple academic appointments, the most recent being Associate Professor of Mathematics. Her academic research focused on development and analysis of mathematical models applied to cancer therapies, autoimmune disease, bio-mechanical circuits involved in cell division, as well as control mechanisms involved in early development/morphogenesis. Her areas of expertise also include development of mathematical techniques for model uncertainty quantification and data assimilation applied to mechanistic differential equation models. She is author of several publications in mathematical biology, as well as editor of two books focused on mathematical modeling of complex biological processes.