Training Seminar on Computational and Experimental Systems Medicine, organised by Medical University - Varna thanks to funding provided by the Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria (MUVE-TEAM project; Contract BG-RRP-2.004-0009-C0), was held on 12 June 2024. The event brought together as lecturers some of the most distinguished European scientists in the field of oncological genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, together with young scientists and researchers from MU–Varna. The lecturers presented cutting-edge methods enabling high-throughput processing of huge data sets in modern medicine.
"Our aim is, in an accessible way, to introduce young scientists to a new group of methods that have their application both in Oncology and in other fields such as Neurology, Cardiovascular Medicine, etc.," underlined Prof. Dr. Anton Tonchev. He emphasised that at the moment there was a huge database of patients' medical data available for research thanks to the opportunities provided by the so-called high-throughput technologies, including the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. That was the reason that provoked keen interest in the meeting among scientists from various fields of science – Morphology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Imaging.
During the meeting Prof. Vesela Christensen from the University of Oslo (Norway), Prof. Dr. Anton Tonchev, Director of the Research Institute at MU-Varna, Prof. Arnoldo Frigesi from the Integreat Centre of Excellence in Oslo (Norway), and Prof. Juha Klefström from the Finnish Cancer Institute in Helsinki (Finland) presented to the media findings in cancer immunology that contribute to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of oncological diseases. The scientists addressed issues related to the achievements of modern science concerning patients in Bulgaria and Europe. Digital tumour modelling, including the creation of the so-called ‘digital twins’, allows for a personalised approach to patients, according to the scientists.