Synopsis
Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine will address the fundamentals of complex systems science, its applicability and relevance to biological and medical grand challenges and its potential for the development of novel research tools as well as innovative diagnostic and treatment strategies. This textbook focuses on the importance of complex systems science in biomedical research and its impact on clinical problem solving. In Parts I and II, the book describes general topics in complex systems science with implications for biomedicine so that the interested, non-specialist, is able to understand the underlying hypothesis as well as the approaches and techniques used in the following sections. The core of the book (Part III) features the application of the aforementioned techniques to specific biomedical topics, starting with the molecular and cellular levels, to whole organ systems (such as the brain and the immune system), leading to the description of dynamical disease processes such as cancer and aging. These examples have been chosen because of their importance and impact for the future (e.g., cancer, HIV, aging). The last part of the book (Part IV) discusses emergent technologies built on better understanding of these complex systems and required to further study these systems in even greater detail. It ranges from bioengineering and DNA-chip technology to diagnostic imaging and virtual reality applications.
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From the Back Cover
Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine
Thomas S. Deisboeck and J. Yasha Kresh
Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine covers the emerging field of systems science involving the application of physics, mathematics, engineering and computational methods and techniques to the study of biomedicine including nonlinear dynamics at the molecular, cellular, multi-cellular tissue, and organismic level. With all chapters helmed by leading scientists in the field, Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine's goal is to offer its audience a timely compendium of the ongoing research directed to the understanding of biological processes as whole systems instead of as isolated component parts.
In Parts I & II, Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine provides a general systems thinking perspective and presents some of the fundamental theoretical underpinnings of this rapidly emerging field. Part III then follows with a multi-scaled approach, spanning from the molecular to macroscopic level, exemplified by studying such diverse areas as molecular networks and developmental processes, the immune and nervous systems, the heart, cancer and multi-organ failure. The volume concludes with Part IV that addresses methods and techniques driven in design and development by this new understanding of biomedical science.
Key Topics Include:
· Historic Perspectives of General Systems Thinking
· Fundamental Methods and Techniques for Studying Complex Dynamical Systems
· Applications from Molecular Networks to Disease Processes
· Enabling Technologies for Exploration of Systems in the Life Sciences
Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine is essential reading for experimental, theoretical, and interdisciplinary scientists working in the biomedical research field interested in a comprehensive overview of this rapidly emerging field.
About the Editors:
Thomas S. Deisboeck is currently Assistant Professor of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. An expert in interdisciplinary cancer modeling, Dr. Deisboeck is Director of the Complex Biosystems Modeling Laboratory which is part of the Harvard-MIT Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging.
J. Yasha Kresh is currently Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Research Director, Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardiovascular Biophysics at the Drexel University College of Medicine. An expert in dynamical systems, he holds appointments in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Molecular Pathobiology Program. Prof. Kresh is Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, Biomedical Engineering Society, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
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