Dr Matthew Young explains the developmental origins of cancer

Cancer is sometimes presented as a single disease, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Each cancer is a unique combination of an individual's DNA and the things that have gone wrong with it to create the cancer.  

In this lecture, Jesus College Postdoctoral Associate Dr Matthew Young explains why these differences matter - both for understanding how cancers develop and treating them effectively.  

Matthew grew up in Melbourne Australia, where he studied an eclectic collection of subjects: history, philosophy, mathematics, and physics.  In 2011 he moved to Cambridge to undertake a PhD in Astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy.  He completed his PhD in 2015, which focused on creating theoretical models for how stars and planets form.  Following a brief flirtation with the start-up scene, he joined the Sanger Institute to use his scientific and mathematical training to study human development and childhood cancer.

Matthew’s most recent work uses cutting-edge technologies that allow us to "see" the DNA and which genes are ‘turned on’ in individual cells. He and his colleagues are using these techniques to unravel how cancers develop and behave at an individual level.