Titre : Network Science in Biomedicine: Mapping Complex Interactions for Breakthrough Discoveries
*Abstract:*The past two decades have witnessed the coming of age of network science as the central paradigm behind some of the most fascinating discoveries of the 21st century. With the continuous progress in high-throughput technologies, such as enhanced computational capabilities, biometric data acquisition, imaging methodologies, and bioinformatics, network principles have emerged as an essential instrument in the realm of biomedical research. Network science has provided a crucial avenue in biomedicine, enabling comprehensive analysis, integration, and interpretation of diverse data types, while facilitating novel connections among them. As a result, it acts as a valuable complement to the reductionist approach of systems biology, which primarily concentrates on identifying individual elements and their isolated functions. In the seminar I shall review the recent advances in the study of complex biological systems that were inspired and enabled by methods of network science. I will present research highlights ranging from determination of the molecular interaction network within a cell to studies of architectural and functional properties of brain networks and biological transportation networks. I will conclude by outlining challenges and directions for future research that encompass utilization of the multilayer network formalism in exploring the structural and functional organization of complex biological systems—from organelles to organs—in health and disease.