Work Package 4 addressed training and career development for both early- and in-career VPH researchers.  The main outputs of this work package are available in our Deliverables section.  The VPH Textbook – the first textbook to address the specific training needs of interdisciplinary VPH research – will be published by Oxford University Press in 2013/14 under the title: “Computational Biomedicine: modelling the human body,”  editors Peter Coveney, Vanessa Diaz, Peter Hunter and Marco Viceconti.

 

Another main activity for this Work Package was the VPH "Education Engine" - using the Virtual Patient to teach VPH concepts and techniques to medical students and clinicians.  This was developed in collaboration with the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE, full details included in Deliverable 4.9).  We also developed an Academic VPH Strategy Document (Deliverable 4.11), and hosted three well-attended VPH Study Groups:

 

1. University of Nottingham, 29 June – 3 July 2009, focused on regenerative aspects of epithelial cells and tissues. 22 participants, 4 countries, 8 universities (a summary video is available on YouTube: “Biology meets Mathematics”).


2. IMIM Hospital del Mar/Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 4-8 October 2010, focused on multiscalability, its computational aspects, and its relationship with translational research in biomedicine.  32 participants, 6 countries, 12 universities


3. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 7-11 May 2012, focused on three grand challengs: musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. 70 participants, 15 countries, 18 universities.

 

The Study Groups have been adopted by the VPH Institute, to take place alongside the biannual VPH Conference.  The next event is scheduled for September 2014 at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.  See the VPH Institute website for updates.

 

Coordinator: Universita Pompeu Fabra