Andrei Macarie

Greetings! My name is Andrei, and I was born in Romania, but moved to Spain when I was 2 years old. Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by mathematics, which led me to pursue a BSc degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Birmingham.

During this time, I attended a lecture related to Mathematical Oncology which inspired and motivated me to do an MSc in Applied Mathematics at the University of Dundee, which had such a course to offer, and opened new doors towards cancer research, specifically cancer modelling. Hence, I wrote my dissertation focused on “Multi-Scale Modelling of Chemovirotherapy Cancer Treatment”, where we used mathematics and computing to explore tumour growth and its interaction with both virus that kills tumour cells and a chemotherapeutic drug.

Building on the experience gained during my MSc project, the fully funded PhD project proposed by the Ninewells Cancer Campaign with joint supervision from Dr Douglas Steele, Dr Dumitru Trucu and Mr Hossain-Ibrahim, will give me the opportunity to expand my knowledge in cancer invasion in the specific field of Glioblastoma, with the ultimate objective of using individualised mathematical modelling to help clinicians choose the best way of treating cancer, improving the patient survival rate, and improving the quality of life for glioblastoma patients.

I am very grateful and happy that Ninewells Cancer Campaign and the University of Dundee allowed me to pursue a career in cancer research and I hope I can deliver new ways of modelling Glioblastoma and understanding this aggressive cancer.