Special VPH session on 25 years of Physiome at the 8th World Congress of Biomechanics

The Physiome Project is a concerted effort to explain how each and every component in the body, from the scale of molecules up to organ systems and beyond, works as part of the integrated whole. Integrating knowledge of all these different components into robust, reliable computer models will yield enormous medical advances in the shape of new therapies, diagnostic tools and in silico clinical trials. 

The concept of a Physiome Project was first presented 25 years ago during a world congress of  in a report from the Commission on Bioengineering in Physiology to the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) Council at the 32nd World Congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences. The term physiome comes from “physio” (life) + “ome” (as a whole), and is intended to provide a quantitative description of physiological dynamics and functional behaviour of the intact organism. 

The work of the IUPS Physiome Project has been boosted by the European Commission-funded Virtual Physiological Human Initiative. The VPH Initiative’s main goals are to develop patient- specific computer models for personalised healthcare, to simulate disease-related processes and to assist in the development or regulatory evaluation of a medicinal product, medical device, or medical intervention.

In this special session we will take stock of the work accomplished during the past 25 years and outline the work that still awaits us to realize the full potential of the Physiome Project.  The keynotes will be delivered by two of the most influential leaders of the VPH/Physiome initiatives, Prof. Marco Viceconti and Prof. Peter Hunter.  

We would like to complement these keynotes by contributed abstracts that provide a perspective on developments in various fields of the physiome, be it specific organ systems, disease groups (e.g. cancer, CNS-disorders) or treatment categories (e.g. tissue engineering, pharmacology).  Please submit your contribution through the WCB conference website, selecting the “Society session” and then the “VPH Institute session: 25 years of Physiome”, and join us in celebrating the first quarter century of the Physiome initiative.

Further information can be found here