Have you ever wondered why, in most species, males are larger and more ornamented than females?

It’s an evolutionarily determined aspect of biology, but what does it mean for human health and disease? What are the implications of needing one chart to describe normal growth in boys, and another to describe normal growth in girls? Why are there two normals for growth, and does it matter for a disease of growth like cancer?

I’m a paediatric brain tumour doctor and scientist and am interested in developing new treatments for glioblastoma (GBM) and other malignant brain tumours.

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumour and killed the late US senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy, and Beau Biden III, the eldest child of former US vice president Joe Biden.