Editorial: TBME Letters Special Issue on Multiscale Modeling and Analysis in Computational Biology and Medicine - Part-2

A S announced in the previous special issue (IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (TBME) LETTERS, vol. 58, no. 10, Part 1), we are pleased to present Part-2 of the IEEE TBME Letters Special Issue on Multiscale Modeling and Analysis in Computational Biology and Medicine. It complements Part-1 by introducing other meritorious research work in progress where computational modeling and analysis is the key focus for better understanding of complex mechanisms and systems in biology and physiology. These contributions highlight the dynamics observed in this field where much remains to be done. The challenging problems crossing and bridging multiple scales, from genes to organs, are addressed under systems biology and physiological systems also provide future directions of research investigations in the 21st century. The roots of the tremendous modeling efforts all over the world can be found as interdisciplinary research in archived publications as early as the middle of 20th century when Macy Conferences were organized with scholars from various disciplines in New York by the initiative of W. McCulloch and the J. Macy, Jr., Foundation from 1946 to 1953 (http://www. asc-cybernetics.org/foundations/history/MacySummary.htm). These conferences promoted interdisciplinary research in system biology and cybernetics that laid the foundation of cognitive sciences. Norbert Wiener, a mathematician and founder of cybernetics, took a leadership role in Macy Conferences exploring system theory to deal with a large spectrum of applications, including living bodies. Another major cybernetics initiative was led by William Ross Ashby, a psychiatrist, and Heinz von Foerster, a biophysicist. They introduced pioneering concepts for system evolution, morphogenesis, energy and matter exchanges, and equilibrium states utilizing information theory in studies related to system biology and cybernetics. More recently, as pointed out in the Editorial of Part-1, the Physiome project initiated by Bassingthwaighte and others, the Interagency Modeling and Analysis Group (IMAG) Multiscale Modeling initiatives, and the Virtual Physiological Human initiative by the European Community led to several research programs throughout the world. These two volumes of the TBME Special Issue on Multiscale Modeling and Analysis for Computational Biology and Medicine is a modest contribution to this significant and fast growing interdisciplinary research area. Our previous editorial referred to several review papers [1]–[11] published recently in other journals such as PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, Annals of Biomedical Engineering,