The “Data-Driven Modelling for Living Systems” Conference Continues in Interface Focus

In August 2026, the prestigious Royal Society journal Interface Focus published the theme issue Data-driven modelling for living systems. The issue is both an outcome and a continuation of the International Conference on Data-Driven Modelling for Living Systems, organised by the Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering in June 2023.

The guest editors of the theme issue are Prof. Maia Angelova, Acad. Krassimir Atanassov, Prof. Sergiy Shelyag and Assoc. Prof. Chandan Karmakar. The issue reflects the growing importance of data-driven modelling in the study of living systems. Today, increasingly complex and diverse data are collected at multiple levels—from molecular, genetic and cellular processes to organs, whole organisms, vital signs and electronic health records. Further sources include physiological data on sleep, mobility and other personal health indicators obtained through wearable devices, as well as information related to society, professional environments and the wider environment.

Advances in artificial intelligence and modern data analysis make it possible to examine these interconnected levels from different perspectives. Like a powerful lens, data-driven modelling allows researchers to “zoom in” on genes, cells and organs and then to “zoom out” towards the interactions of the human organism with society and the environment. The articles in the issue illustrate this broad interdisciplinary perspective through applications related to microbial growth, biological delay models, biodiversity, prostate cancer research, the blood donation system, sleep disorders and other complex systems.

The theme issue also includes two articles by research teams from IBPhBME–BAS:

• A variant InterCriteria Analysis method based on mean value: An application to prostate cancer data by Krassimir Atanassov, Lyudmila Todorova, Peter Vassilev, Elenko Popov, Angel Bozhkov, Chavdar Slavov and Vassia Atanassova;
• Blood donation landscape in Bulgaria: Data analytics insights from 2024 by Ivo Umlenski et al.

Interface Focus is a Q1 journal indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (SCIE), with a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 4.0. All articles in the theme issue are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) open-access license.

• Theme issue: https://bit.ly/RSFS163
• Download the flyer (PDF, 653 KB)