WP2WP2 - VPH Exemplar Projects
TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS ON EXEMPLAR PROJECT CALL 3 CLICK HERE
Overview
(Nov. 2009: 18-month WP2 report on the Exemplar Projects, D2.6, is available here)
WP2 team: Key tasks
- Seed Exemplar project coordination and monitoring
- Reporting on Seed Exemplar Projects
- Ensuring connection of all Exemplar Projects to the VPH ToolKit
- VPH Research Strategy Document: authored and published Autumn 2008
- Release of call and evaluation of proposals for new VPH NoE Exemplar Projects (Summer 2009 onwards)
Coordinator: CNRS
In keeping with the general ethos of the VPH NoE - to support interdisciplinary and integrative research - WP2 will develop Exemplar Projects (EPs) working towards integration amongst VPH researchers, in order to address specific research problems or challenges. These projects aim is to provide solid examples of horizontal and vertical model/data integration, which may only be achieved through the integration of disparate knowledge and research infrastructure. This 'infrastructure' will be provided through development of the VPH ToolKit (WP3).
Within the first year of the project, five 'seed EPs' were and in some cases are still being carried out by VPH NoE core members. These are described below, and aim to lay the ground for subsequent EPs. Requirement of these project are as follows:
- Exemplar projects must be INTEGRATIVE
- Exemplar projects must be INTERDISCIPLINARY
- Exemplar projects must MAKE USE AND/OR CONTRIBUTE TO THE VPH ToolKit, through use/development of modelling, simulation and visualisation-related tools, data or methods.
There are currently 9 Exemplar Projects. There are 5 Seed Exemplar Projects, 1 project selected in the first call and 3 projects selected in the second call.
SEED EXEMPLAR PROJECTS
The 5 Seed Exemplar Projects, which took place in the first 18 months of the VPH NoE project and these were:
EP1: CNRS: A multi-organ Core Model of arterial pressure and body fluids homeostasis
EP2: ULB: Integrated multi-level modelling of the musculoskeletal system
EP3: KI: Fighting aneurysmal disease (FAD)
EP4: IMIM: Multi-scale simulation and prediction of the drug safety problems related with hERG
EP5: ERCIM, Digital Patient Working Group: Modelling and visualising brain function and pathophysiology
To view an initial description of the 5 seed Exemplar Projects please click on the links above or alternatively all 5 seed Exemplar Projects can be found on the Exemplar Project page.
During the course of 2009, a first call was released for further EP proposals. Seven proposals were submitted, and one was selected as a new Exemplar Project, which is coordinated by EBI.
It is very important to note that subsequent exemplar projects were and will continue to be awarded as part of an open call process to VPH NoE General Members.
SECOND CALL FOR EP PROPOSALS
The second call for new Exemplar Projects was launched by the VPH NoE in the Spring of 2010. The call was open to proposals based on ongoing projects in any laboratory involved in VPH-related work, the only condition being that, if the laboratory is not already part of the VPH NoE consortium, they become a General Member of the NoE. While this call was open as usual to any proposal addressing gaps in horizontal and vertical integration in physiological modeling, it was especially targeted towards proposals addressing VPH infrastructure or workflow demonstrators.
The three projects that were selected reflect this triple goal, since they address, respectively, the role of physics-based models to link genotype to phenotype, the nature of the ICT infrastructure required for the success of the VPH mission, and lastly, the development of efficient workflows for integration of clinically oriented virtual imaging platforms and the VPH ToolKit. We give a brief overview of these three projects, all of which are just getting underway.
EP7: CIGENE: Integrating genetic theory and genomic data with multiscale models in a population context
EP8: USFD: Infrastructure" or "The NoE, Infrastructure and the Challenge of Call6
EP9: VIP for VPH : Execution of medical image simulation workflows on DEISA through workflow interoperability between the Virtual Imaging Platform and the VPH toolkit
THIRD CALL FOR EP PROPOSALS
EP Project Call 3 is underway and closes on April 25. To view further details please click here
The principal challenge in development of the VPH ToolKit is establishment of the transversal, or horizontal, connections between the usual domains of investigation. The intention in selecting the EPs (both the seedEPs and future EPs), is to push development in the direction of this transversal integration. We expect this to be one of the main hurdles to success of the collaborative/integrative approach underlying the physiome concept. It must of course rely on the technical resources that will constitute the VPH ToolKit but it represents, in some sense, a change of paradigm, towards a globalization/mondialisation of biomedical research.
Whereas the RTAE (Requirements and Technology Assessment Exercise) document analyses the technological requirements and existing resources in a range of VPH task areas, the EPSD focuses on the role of exemplar projects in the challenge of bringing the various scientific disciplines to collaborate towards "an integrative approach, were biological processes are described from a systems point of view" (STEP Roadmap, 2007, p.2). It is of course expected that the other projects (i.e., STREPs, IPs) funded under the VPH calls will also work in this direction, but the EPs, which are ongoing projects with independent funding, will receive a budget specifically for this mission directly from the NoE. The EPSD summarizes the existing seedEP projects and their expressed technical needs and potential contributions in terms of the WP3 ToolKit development. Our purpose is to target the three calls for new Exemplar Projects by identifying key gaps in both the technological requirements and in coverage of the horizontal and vertical links among the various physiological levels (gene-to-organism) and organ systems.
The EPSD also presents the practical details of launching the calls, evaluating proposals, and selecting and financing the new EPs.
VPH NoE Repository
Please note that WP2 related documents and a private WP2 workspace is now available in the VPH NoE repository. To go to the VPH repository please click here.