Oden Institute doctoral student Tarini Thiagarajan uses mathematical models and patient MRI data to personalize radiation therapy for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. She is the inaugural recipient of the Oden Institute's Pandey Graduate Fellowship.
Center for Computational Oncology
The vision for the Center for Computational Oncology (CCO) is to develop biophysical models of tumor initiation, growth, invasion, and metastasis to establish a sound theoretical framework describing the hallmarks of cancer, and to use this knowledge to discover fundamental cancer biology, and develop tumor forecasting methods to optimize treatment and outcomes for the individual patient.
Directors
Tom Yankeelov
Imaging
Computational Medicine
Tumor Growth Modeling
Faculty and Research Staff
George Biros
Imaging
Computational Mechanics
High-Performance Computing
Postdocs
Staff
Members outside the Oden Institute
Amy Brock, Caroline De Santiago, David Fuentes, Andrea Gardner, Tyler Jost, Shelli Kesler, Hugo Miniere
The center takes a unique approach to tumor model construction through its application of model inputs constrained by experiments and/or metrics tailored to each individual patient. Constructing individualized, patient-centric models offers several key advantages over conventional, population-derived metrics. Models naturally incorporate patient-to-patient heterogeneity – an approach that enables quantitative, testable predictions of tumor progression on each individual tumor and patient, allowing the model to be refined and/or verified.
News in brief
Media Coverage
Sept. 18, 2026
AI Digital Twins Get Better and Better: Cancer in Crosshairs
Doctors and researchers are developing digital twins to help plan treatment for heart disease and possibly cancer care. The collaboration with Oden Institute Professor Tom Yankeelov and Chengyue Wu, PhD, at MD Anderson are looking towards the future of a potential clinical trial for cancer treatment.
Profile
Aug. 12, 2026
Finding the Space Between Medicine and Math - Profile Tarini Thiagarajan
News
May 13, 2026
Seeing the Possibilities: High School Students Step into Oden Institute Research World
Students from the Liberal Arts and Science Academy got a front row seat to current research on topics including cancer, the cosmos, digital twins, robotics, and ocean systems during a field trip to the Oden Institute.