Bioengineering lab joins EU consortium on virtual human twins

The launch of the EU-funded Horizon Europe VITAL project, which will run from 2024 to 2029, was announced in a July press release. The project aims to develop a framework for digital models that act as dynamic, data-driven digital replicas of individuals, and are continuously updated with real-time health information from clinical exams and wearable sensors. Such models can help healthcare providers tailor therapeutic strategies to each patient, thereby improving treatment outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

The LHTC in EPFL’s Institute of Bioengineering is led by Nikolaos Stergiopulos. Research focuses on the study of blood flow in relation to cardiovascular disease, and the advancement of cardiovascular technology via knowledge transfer to the clinical and medical technology sectors. The group will contribute to the VITAL project’s endeavor of building a multi-organ computational model of human physiology with their expertise in modelling of arterial hemodynamics and artificial intelligence. The goal is to demonstrate clinically useful applications of personalized multiscale mechanistic models, notably in the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure and hypertension. The lab has joined VITAL thanks to funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and lnnovation (SERI).

The VITAL research consortium brings together other leading universities across Europe (TU Delft, Maastricht University, University of Pisa, Jagiellonian University, Ghent University); the UK (King’s College London and University College London); and New Zealand (Auckland Bioengineering Institute); as well as two research centers (imec in the Netherlands and the Austrian Institute of Technology); two SMEs (ELEM Biotech in Spain and WCR in the Netherlands); and Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris.