Tomorrow ends in Barcelona the meeting of the second study group of theVirtual Physiology Human Network of Excellence (VPV NoE), a European network of excellence that for five years has coordinated a series ofactivities related to the development of the Virtual Human Being, to generate multiscale model simulations that reproduce the functioning of the body from the molecule to the organ.
The meeting took place at the facilities of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) and was organized by Jordi Villà, coordinator of the computational biochemistry and biophysics group of the Biomedical Informatics-GRIB research program (IMIM-UPF). Attendees have sharedmathematical knowledge and modelsthat are had on some physiological processes in order to provide computational tools that help doctors to make decisions based on simulations of the functioning of the human body, or at least of a specific well characterized part. For example, some projects within the network work on the effect of drugs on the generation of arrhythmias in the heart, others on the simulation of the process that leads to osteoporosis, and others work on kidney simulations.
This meeting has had the participation ofinternationally renowned experts in mathematics applied to simulations, in modeling the evolution of aneurysms, in simulations of brain processes, in cardiovascular simulations or in simulations of lung mechanics, among others.
Very widespread pathologies such as cancer, cardiovascular or neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s …) have a complex nature that involves genetic factors, environmental factors, age and lifestyle. “A key challenge for the future of medicine is to integrate the knowledge of these factors into robust computer models that help develop and test new therapies, as well as improve prevention,” say the members of the HPV NoE network.
