The Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science welcomes the renowned expert Felix Tretter and invites you to join us for the Bertalanffy Lecture 2014 on Systems Medicine on Friday, 19 December 2014, 15:00 at the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science, Paulanergasse 13/5, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
The talk by Professor Tretter (in German) will present his advanced systemic perspective on current developments in the new field of systems medicine, and a critical view on the opportunities and risks of the impacts on the pharmaceutical industries, applied therapies, and the organizational level of medicine and our healthcare system to support transformations of care for the benefit of the people.
In 2012 multi-million research programs were initiated in Germany supported by the EU commission devoted to establish systems medicine since 2010. The field evolves now from basic research to the development of applications. Together with Prof. Tretter the Bertalanffy Center intends to found a Research Group to establish these promising future potentials in Austria, too. The first open meeting marks a unique opportunity for researchers from a variety of disciplines and representatives from industry, and from the private and governmental health care and insurance system to connect with us. If you are interested to join, please, send a message to stefan.blachfellner@bcsss.org.
Prof. Dr.Dr.Dr. Felix Tretter
Systems Medicine
Maintenance of health and the development of diseases are the result of complex dynamic interactions. Systems Medicine is the application of systems biology approaches to medical research and medical practice. Its objective is to integrate a variety of biological/medical data at all relevant levels of organization using the power of computational and mathematical modelling, from the level of inter- and intracellular molecular networks of the cell to the levels of the interdependence of humans and their environments.
As many side-effects of medications are caused by the linkage of different organ systems such as heart and lung, the immune system, endocrine system and nervous system, a new approach in medicine is necessary. These connections are statistically known as co-morbidity.
The first step towards systems medicine intended a better understanding of functions and dysfunctions of the organism by using computer simulations of cell and tissue processes. The connections can now be interpreted by such models that are based on data from inter- and intracellular molecular networks (cytokines, neurotransmitters, etc.).
At present, also clinical systems medicine is constituted that focusses on the interaction of organismic subsystems. Some protagonists call this the 4P medicine, for personalized (individual genome analysis), predictive, preventive and participative medicine (L. Hood, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle) to develop innovative therapies and tailored preventive treatments.
The future outlook is a scenario in which the health care system itself might change based on these findings. A complementary research focus of the Bertalanffy Center in Service Systems Design for large scale, multi-stakeholder complex social systems like health care might be the next promising step.
The Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science
The Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (BCSSS) is an Austrian independent research institute, internationally acknowledged as an ambassador for the systems science heritage and present state-of-the-art applied systems research. The Center focuses on the Foundation of Systems Science, Systemic Design and Managing Complexity for future oriented sustainable innovative solutions.