CALL FOR PAPERS

Workshop on Multi-Level and Multi-Scale Modeling, Analysis and Simulation in Biology

Philadelphia, PA, USA, October 4-7, 2012 In conjunction with the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM 2012)

CONTEXT:
Owing to advancements in experimental instrumentation, analytical and computational tools, biological phenomena are studied at increasing levels of detail and complexity across multiple levels of biological organization and multiple spatial and temporal scales. Multi-scale approaches seek to model, analyze and stimulate data and systems representing two or more distinct temporal and/or spatial scales. Multi-level approaches do not focus exclusively on multiple time and space scales. Multi-level approaches aim to model, analyze and stimulate data and systems representing multiple levels of biological organization (from molecules, to organisms, to populations, through to the environments ecosystems), multiple types of processes (physical, chemical, physiological), and multiple species/systems (e.g., the immune system and different types of bacteria). Many existing modeling, analysis and simulation methodologies and tools, which were developed to meet the needs of much simpler single-level and single-scale scenarios, do not scale well to higher levels of complexity. A common approach to overcome the involved difficulties consists of decomposing the problem into less complex sub-problems for which adequate solutions exist and to synthesize the partial solutions into a global one. However, this divide-and-conquer strategy poses new challenges in terms of data and ontology integration; strategies for problem decomposition and solution synthesis; scale/level separation and coupling; combination, integration and coupling of mechanistic and phenomenological models; hybrid deterministic-stochastic approaches; development and deployment and execution of multi-component software applications in heterogeneous, distributed computing environments; and validation of multi-scale, multi-level, multi-methodology, multi-representation, multi-component, multi-software solutions.

AIMS, SCOPE AND TOPICS:

The workshop aims to provide an informal and vibrant forum for researchers and industry practitioners to share their research results and practical development experiences. The goal of this workshop is to bring together computational biology, bioinformatics and healthcare informatics researchers to explore new ideas, methodologies and tools aimed at modeling, analysis and simulation of complex life phenomena cutting across multiple levels and scales of biological organization. The topics of interest include but are not limited to the following: Multi-scale (temporal, spatial, organizational) modeling and simulation of biological processes/systems; Integration and warehousing of multi-level / multi-scale data (e.g., of multi-omics data)

Data and information fusion approaches to multi-level / multi-scale modeling, analysis and simulation in biology; Statistical and machine learning methods for analyzing multi-level / multi-scale biological data; Modeling and analysis of heterogeneous/multi-level information networks representing biological phenomena; Combined mechanistic and phenomenological approaches for modeling and simulation of biological systems and processes; Hybrid deterministic-stochastic approaches; Multi-level / multi-scale ontologies of complex biological processes and systems; Reverse-engineering of multi-level / multi-scale biological models; Validation of multi-level / multi-scale biological models; Multi-agent modeling and simulation of biological systems and processes.

IMPORTANT DATES:
July 30, 2012: August 20, 2012: September 4, 2012: October 4-7, 2012: Due date for full workshop papers submission Notification of paper acceptance to authors Camera-ready of accepted papers Workshop in Philadelphia, USA, as part of BIBM 2012

PAPER SUBMISSION:
Please submit your full-length manuscript (maximum eight pages in IEEE 2-column format) via the main BIBM 2012 submission system at http://www.cis.drexel.edu/ieeebibm/bibm12/index.htm (see menu item Online Submission). There you will also find detailed formatting instructions and document templates.

ORGANIZATION:
Program Co-Chairs:
Werner Dubitzky University of Ulster, Coleraine, United Kingdom, w.dubitzky@ulster.ac.uk Rodrigo Weber dos Santos Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil, rodrigo.weber@ufjf.edu.br Kwang-Hyun Cho Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, ckh@kaist.ac.kr

Program Committee:
Charles Auffray, European Institute for Systems Biology & Medicine, Lyon, France Francisco Azuaje, CRP-Sant, Luxembourg Flvia de Souza Bastos, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil Daniel Berrar, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan Eun Bo Shim, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea Kevin Burrage, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Mario Cannataro, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy Stuart Campbell, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA Nagasuma Chandra, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India Luonan Chen, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China Bastien Chopard, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland Attila Csiksz-Nagy, The Microsoft Research University of Trento, Trento, Italy Allbens Atman Picardi Faria, CEFET-MG, Brazil Ricardo Santos Ferreira, Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil Gionata Fragomeni, University Magna Grcia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy Jordi Vill i Freixa, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Alfons Hoekstra, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Priscila Capriles Goliatt, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil Marcelo Lobosco, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil Eduardo Mendoza, University of the Philippines Diliman, The Philippines Wagner Meira Jr., Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil Igor Mozeti, Joef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia Alcione de Paiva, Universiade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil Osbaldo Resendis-Antonio, Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, Mexico Bernardo Rocha, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil Leonardo Chaves Dutra da Rocha, Universidade Federal de Sao Joao del Rei, Brazil Rafael Sachetto, Universidade Federal de Sao Joao del Rei, Brazil Insik Shin, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea Joakim Sundnes, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Martin Swain, Aberystwyth Universith, Aberystwyth, United Kingdom Elson Toledo, LNCC, Brazil Giovanni Vozzi, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy Ray Walshe, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland Chong Wang, Technical University of Wildau, Wildau, Germany Huiru Zheng, University of Ulster, Jordanstown, United Kingdom Bla Zupan, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia