oncology

Next Scientist is a new Wonderfest series of online presentations. Every Next Scientist Zoom consists of two 30-minute presentations (including 10 minutes of Q&A), each featuring a young researcher describing next-level science:

UC Berkeley seismologist Sarina Patel on Earthquake Science Using Crowdsourced Data from Smartphones — MyShake is a free citizen-science smartphone app that delivers earthquake early warnings(!) to users in California, Oregon, and Washington. It also uses a phone’s vibration sensor to record earthquake motion for scientific analysis. How can the gadget in your pocket contribute to earthquake early warning, shake-hazard mapping, and structural-health monitoring?

Exelixis medical chemist Trevor Chang on Advances in Cancer Treatment: Synthetic Lethality — Chemotherapy is a standard component of both the treatment and study of cancer. Conventional chemotherapeutic agents are toxic to cells, underscoring the continued focus on precision medicines. Research in synthetic lethality aims to develop medicines that target specific genetic mutations expressed only in cancer cells while sparing healthy cells.