We are pleased to host the KAUST Research Conference: Computational Systems Biology in Biomedicine.
Rapid progress in many areas of information technology and computer science has resulted in an unprecedented development of many areas of science and technology. Amongst the greatest beneficiaries of this information era is certainly life science, particularly in the form of computational biology. Entirely new computational methodologies are emerging as a result of the latest, powerful computational methods. Computational Systems Biology (CSB), with its focus on mathematical and computational modeling of complex biological systems, provides new insights into the functioning of organisms at different scales. Properties and interactions of entities within cells, tissues and organs, together with associated biological networks, can now be studied in ever-increasing detail through multi-scale methods. Advances in CSB can offer many promises for life science. One of the most prominent of these is certainly in the field of biomedicine. Understanding the relationships between the entities studied in CSB and their impact on human health is a subject of great interest in medicine. Many methods in diagnostics, genetics, gene therapy, immunology and others are developed through the application of CSB. There is no doubt that many more will be developed in the future.
A considerable part of our work here at the Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC) at KAUST is related to CSB, and its applications. Organizing this conference presents a great opportunity for leading researchers in the field of systems biology to survey the state of the field and discuss the latest developments, trends and applications in biomedicine. We hope that the conference and its achievements would be of interest to a wider audience.
On behalf of CBRC and the Conference Organizing Committee, we welcome all our participants and hope for a productive and enjoyable stay at KAUST and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Vladimir Bajic, Director, CBRC and Conference Co-Chair
Takashi Gojobori, Associate Director, CBRC and Conference Co-Chair