Complex Systems And Computational Biology Approaches To Acute Inflammation

Complex Systems and Computational Biology Approaches to Acute Inflammation

This second edition expands upon and updates the vital research covered in its predecessor, by presenting state-of-the-art multidisciplinary and systems-oriented approaches to complex diseases arising from and driven by the acute inflammatory response. The chapters in this volume provide an introduction to different types of computational modeling, and how these methods can be applied to specific inflammatory diseases, with a focus on providing readers a roadmap for integrating advanced mathematical and computational techniques with traditional experimental methods. In this second edition, we cover both well-established and emerging modeling methods, especially state-of-the-art machine learning approaches and the integration of data-driven and mechanistic modeling. This volume introduces the concept of Model-based Precision Medicine as an alternative approach to the current view of Precision Medicine, based on leveraging mechanistic computational modeling to decrease cost while increasing the information value of the data being obtained. By presenting the role of computational modeling as an integrated component of the research process, Complex Systems and Computational Biology Approaches to Acute Inflammation: A Framework for Model-based Precision Medicine offers a window into the recent past, the present, and the future of computationally-augmented biomedical research.

Complex Systems and Computational Biology Approaches to Acute Inflammation

Immunomodulatory Biomaterials

Biomaterials have existed for millennia as mechanical replacement structures following disease or injury. Biomaterial design has changed markedly from structural support with an "inert immune profile as the primary objective to designs that elicit an integrative local tissue response and a pro-repair immune cell phenotype. Immunomodulatory Biomaterials: Regulating the Immune Response with Biomaterials to Affect Clinical Outcome offers a single, comprehensive reference on biomaterials for modulation of the host response, for materials scientists, tissue engineers and those working in regenerative medicine. This book details methods, materials and strategies designed to regulate the host immune response following surgical implantation and thus facilitate specific local cell infiltration and tissue deposition. There has been a dramatic transformation in our understanding of the role of the immune system, both innate and adaptive; these changes include recognition of the plasticity of immune cells, especially macrophages, cross-talk between the immune system and stem cells, and the necessity for in situ transition between inflammatory and regulatory immune cell phenotypes. The exploitation of these findings and the design and manufacture of new biomaterials is occurring at an astounding pace. There is currently no book directed at the interdisciplinary principles guiding the design, manufacture, testing, and clinical translation of biomaterials that proactively regulate the host tissue immune response. The challenge for academia, industry, and regulatory agencies to encourage innovation while assuring safety and maximizing efficacy has never been greater. Given the highly interdisciplinary requirements for the design, manufacture and use of immunomodulatory biomaterials, this book will prove a useful single resource across disciplines. - Holistically covers the design, manufacture, testing, and clinical translation of biomaterials that proactively regulate the host tissue immune response - Provides a single reference for understanding and utilizing the host response in biomaterials design - An international collaboration of leading researchers in the field offering a novel insight into this fast-growing area