VPH 2012 PDF | Print | E-mail

INTEGRATIVE APPROACHES TO COMPUTATIONAL BIOMEDICINE

Final programme

• Please click here

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Professor Raimond Winslow
Director, Centre for Cardiovascular Bioinformatics and Modeling
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA

Professor Sir Salvador Moncada
Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research
University College London, UK

Professor Douglas Kell
Chief Executive, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), UK

Professor Hiroaki Kitano
President, The Systems Biology Institute, Japan Principal Investigator, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, JP

MEETING INFORMATION

The Virtual Physiological Human Network of Excellence (VPH NoE) held the second of the series of VPH Conferences (VPH 2012) on 18th - 20th September 2012. VPH2012: Integrative approaches to computational biomedicine - The Virtual Physiological Human Initiative Scientific Sessions 2012 took place at the IET London, 2 Savoy Place, London. VPH2012 was an international conference on computational biomedicine, focusing on the integrative aspects of VPH.

The Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) is an effort to coordinate European research into computational biology, at all levels from molecule to human. The VPH offers an entirely novel approach to understanding, treating and controlling debilitating diseases and thus maximising the return from the vast quantities of patient-specific information which it is possible to obtain in this area. The progressive advance in computing power and associated information technology offers the potential to deliver tailor-made clinical treatments based on simulation studies of the profile of the individual requiring treatment. The VPH has been defined as a conceptual, methodological, and technological framework to develop a quantitative understanding of the human body as a single complex system.

The VPH NoE is an umbrella project which has sought to bring together the different VPH initiative (VPH-I) projects working on different aspects of the body. The VPH NoE was created by a leading group of universities, institutes and organisations and was set up with `service to the community' of VPH researchers as its primary purpose. By definition, the "Virtual Physiological Human" (VPH) initiative has a very strong clinical/industrial translation component. It is the ultimate aim of the VPH-I projects to make a real impact in healthcare by putting the technologies /methodologies developed in a clinical environment to good use for the benefits of patients. The conference brought together attendees from many different backgrounds to share their knowledge and discoveries.

The program was built around four conference themes: (1) Physiome: multiscale modelling of physiology and pathology; (2) Virtual Physiological Human: infrastructures and technologies for integrative biomedical research; (3) Systems Medicine/ -omics; and (4) VPH in Translation. There were over 150 VPH papers presented at the conference, in 28 thematic sessions and seven focussed workshops, showcasing the huge diversity and complexity of the VPH. In addition, there were two satellite meetings, on: `Towards open Science: EUDAT for the VPH Community’ and `Tech2012: Workshop on the VPH ToolKit and portal’.

268 participants attended the VPH2012 from 25 different countries. 88% of the attendees came from Europe, with the rest coming from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Switzerland and the USA. The majority came from academia (78%) followed by the industrial (8%), government (3%) and clinical sectors (2%). The remainder of attendees came from other sectors (5%). Testament to the reach and potential impact of the research, 43% of attendees said they were not formally part of the VPH initiative.

Meeting Structure

Five parallel sessions were held on the first day of the conference with four parallel sessions on subsequent days. There were seven subject-specific workshops in relevant areas not addressed in the main scientific tracks. `Hands-on’ workshops showcased a specific set of tools of concept and these workshops had a more interactive format. `Sessional’ workshops functioned as subject-specific conference sessions, with keynote speakers and presentations from peer-reviewed research. There were also six demonstration stands:

• Idealist - an International ICT support network which assists with project proposal writing, project management and offers a partner finding service.
• Multiscale APPlications on European e-infRastructures (MAPPER) aims to enable compute-intensive VPH applications in an e-infrastructure with dedicated software.
• EUDAT works in the field of data infrastructure - enabling a collaborative data infrastructure (CDI) driven by research community’s needs.
• DISCIPULUS was set up by the European Commission to lay down a roadmap for the realisation of the digital `avatar’ patient
• The VPH Institute is an International not for profit organisation incorporated in May 2011 whose aim is to ensure that the VPH is fully realised, universally adopted, and effectively used both in research and clinic.
• INBIOMEDvision is a European Coordination and Support Action funded by the FP7 ICT whose main goal is to promote Biomedical Informatics.

Translational impact

Presentations and workshops at the VPH2012 highlighted the clear potential for VPH to make a real impact in clinics in the near future. One example is the VPHOP project, developing presented new technologies to predict the risk of bone fracture in osteoporosis, and optimise treatments tailored to the individual patient. The cardiovascular system was the focus for many projects and the sessional MeDDiCA workshop demonstrated how they addressed needs in the specification of minimally invasive devices within the cardiovascular field. The Modelling for Patient Safety workshop demonstrated the translational potential of computer models for designing safer, more effective vascular stents - including presentations by clinicians and device manufacturers involved in this work.

Keynote addresses

Four eminent scientists presented keynote lectures at the VPH2012. Professor Raimond Winslow, Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Bioinformatics and Modeling at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine gave a talk on Translational aspects of VPH. Professor Winslow has developed computational models of the molecular basis of arrhythmia in the setting of heart failure - work that has provided fundamental insights into possible mechanisms of sudden cardiac death. Professor Sir Salvador Moncada, Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, gave a talk on Connecting cell cycle progression to metabolic requirements. Professor Moncada has made major contributions in three areas of cardiovascular pharmacology and recognised by a knighthood for his services to science in this field. Professor Douglas Kell, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, discussed Pharmaceutical drug transport: The issues and the implications that it is essentially carrier-mediated only. Professor Kell has been a pioneer in a variety of areas of computational biology and experimental metabolomics, and contributed to the discovery of the first bacterial cytokine, which is presently on trial as part of a vaccine against tuberculosis. Professor Hiroaki Kitano, President of the Systems Biology Institute, Japan has made significant contributions to the field of systems biology and he gave a talk on VPH in industrial research from the side of the Japanese physiome project. He is also well known to the public for the creation of AIBO, the four-legged robotic dog, and for the robotic world cup tournament, Robocup.

Moving forward

This conference was also a chance to bid farewell to the VPH NoE. The project will officially end in May 2013, following a six-month extension granted this year. A keynote lecture was given on the first day of the conference with leading figures of the VPH NoE discussing exciting projects which are continuing after the VPH NoE ends. Vanessa Diaz discussed DISCIPULUS (the roadmap for the digital patient), Keith McCormack presented the work of the VPH ToolKit and web portal. Peter Hunter discussed the `Vision and Strategy’ of the VPH Initiative, and Marco Viceconti introduced the new VPH Institute for Biomedical Research. The VPH Institute is an international non-profit organisation, whose mission is to ensure that the Virtual Physiological Human is fully realised, universally adopted, and effectively used both in research and clinic. The VPH institute will take over from the VPH NoE in many respects, including hosting the VPH conference series in years to come. Every two years, they will steer a bid selection process to assign the conference format to a local organising group.

Finally, we would like to thank everyone who attended and are pleased to announce that a selection of VPH2012 papers (invited for peer-review on the basis of conference reviewer scores) will be published after the conference in Interface Focus. This follows on from the success of the VPH 2010 conference issue, appearing in Interface Focus in 2011. The publication of a second VPH themed issue in such a prestigious journal shows a continued interest in the VPH field.

VPH2012 Scientific Committee

Peter Coveney, University College London (Chair), UK

Vanessa Diaz, University College London (Vice-Chair), UK

Stephen Emmott, Microsoft Research Laboratory, UK

Norbert Graf, University of Saarland, DE

Peter Hunter, University of Auckland, NZ

Paul Kellam, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK

Peter Kohl, Imperial College London, UK

Ferran Sanz, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, ES

Jesper Tegner, Karolinska Institutet, SE

Marco Viceconti, University of Sheffield, UK

VPH2012 Organisation Office

Tara Chapman, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, BE

Katherine Fletcher, University of Oxford, UK

Miriam Mendes, University College London, UK