"The future revolutionizing biomedicine is through in silico models, real-time simulations and digital twins"

Dr Vasileios Vavourakis is an Associate Professor at the University of Cyprus, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College London, and Technical Chair of BioDynaMo. The expertise of Vasileios and his team – the In Silico Modelling group (https://in-silico-modelling.ucy.ac.cy) – is in computational mechanics, numerical methods, mathematical modelling and high-performance computing. He is a member of the European Society of Biomechanics, the International Association of Computational Mechanics, the Virtual Physiological Human Institute, and the Marie-Curie Alumni Association. He has co-authored >50 peer-reviewed articles in journals and book chapters, he is a reviewer in several prominent journals in modelling and biomechanics, and has examined grants in UK’s EPSRC and NC3Rs, the Irish Research Council, Belgium’s FWO, Netherland’s STW, and the Slovak Research & Development Agency. Dr Vavourakis has been a Marie Curie Fellow (2015-2017), as well as taken leading role in the in silico modelling in two FP7 and an EPSRC project. He is the principal investigator of an EIC Pathfinder and a Cyprus Cancer Research Institute project, while he is the co-investigator in a H2020, two COST Actions, and a RIF-funded project.

Associate Professor Vasileios Vavourakis

Dept. of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

University of Cyprus, Cyprus

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; (+357) 22 894526

Multiscale
in silico models: from tissue to cell-scale biomechanics

Understanding the physiology and pathology of human organs necessitates also understanding more about the mechano-biology of tissue, cells, and the microstructure of the living matter. Cells constitute the building blocks of all living things. They provide structure for the body, carry out specialized functions, produce/uptake biochemical cues, convert nutrients into energy, and can make copies of themselves. In this regard, modelling cells and tissue biomechanics is an emerging field in biomedicine. We have established organ- to tissue-scale in silico models while we are very active developing novel cell-scale biomechanics agent-based models. The group is also active developing such modelling procedures and computer codes. We are members of the BioDynaMo project (https://www.biodynamo.org), an international, interdisciplinary group of investigators working for the development of a modular platform for high-performance computing using agent-based modelling, while over the years we have developed several finite element based solvers for multiscale in silico biomechanical modelling. In general, we are active in research initiatives that promote application of in silico models in cancer biology, wound healing, radiation therapy, tissue engineering and tissue regeneration.

Biomechanics-assisted medical image processing & surgical planning simulations

In medical imaging, image registration is the process of transforming different sets of data into one coordinate system, i.e. projecting or fusing images into a common reference framework. Clinical data could be magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, computed tomography (CT), multiple photographs, etc. It may also involve data by combining different sensors/cameras, at different time points, or viewpoints for surgical or/and radiotherapy planning, multi-modal diagnosis and staging. In breast cancer management for instance, the accurate prone-to-supine breast image registration may be necessitated by the clinicians (for diagnostic or planning purposes) which is still a challenge. In this direction, we have integrated biomechanical in silico models with image processing techniques into a registration framework such that it aligns pertinent images in a central (reference) configuration by minimizing the registration errors. Moreover, in another research direction, we are developing data-driven in silico models that aim to offer physiologically accurate predictions of needle insertion on a patient-specific basis for prostate cancer therapy in the context of brachytherapy. Our models are built using pertinent image data from prostate cancer patients undergoing internal radiotherapy, where pertinent data are provided by our clinical collaborators.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Cogno, C. Axenie, R. Bauer, V. Vavourakis 2024. “Agent-based modelling in cancer biomedicine: applications and tools for calibration and validation,” Cancer Biology & Therapy https://doi.org/10.1080/15384047.2024.2344600
2. Hadjicharalambous, E. Ioannou, N. Aristokleous, K. Gazeli, C. Anastassiou, V. Vavourakis 2022. “Combined anti-angiogenic and cytotoxic treatment of a solid tumour: in silico investigation of a xenograft animal model’s digital twin,” Journal of Theoretical Biology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2022.111246
3. Breitwieser, A. Hesam, J. de Montigny, A. Iosif, V. Vavourakis, M. Kaiser, M. Manca, A. Di Meglio, F. Rademakers, O. Mutlu, R. Bauer 2022. “BioDynaMo: a modular platform for high-performance agent-based simulation,” Bioinformatics, https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btab649
4. de Montigny, A. Iosif, L. Breitwieser, M. Manca, R. Bauer, V. Vavourakis 2021. “An in silico hybrid continuum-/agent-based procedure to modelling cancer development: interrogating the interplay amongst glioma invasion, vascularity and necrosis,” Methods, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymeth.2020.01.006
5. Vavourakis, P.A. Wijeratne 2019. “A quantitative in silico platform for simulating cytotoxic and nano-particle drug delivery to solid tumours,” Royal Society Interface Focus, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2018.0063