The Chief Scientist of the Republic of Cyprus for Research, Innovation and Technology, Mr. Demetris Skourides, had the opportunity to participate in the First International Symposium; Digital Twins 4 Healthcare that was organized by University of Cyprus, CYENS, KOIOS and EPOS-IASIS, during May 16th – 17th.  

The symposium featured a number of 45+ international distinguished researchers including representation from Cypriot researchers, Dr Constantinos Dovrolis, Dr Costas Pitris and Dr. Antonis Kakas, discussing the state of research, science and technology in enabling a revolution in personalized and precision healthcare. 

The event was hosted by Chairs Dr Andreani D. Odysseos, EPOS- IASIS, and Dr Adrian Ionescu, EPFL Switzerland, with esteemed guest Dr Kyriakos Hatziaras, Program officer and Policy officer, exchanging contributions across scientific, translational and policy making pillars in areas such as:

• Emerging technologies for digital twins,

• Designing and building data models repositories,

• Development, testing and implementation of IT platform architectures combining computational advances, cybersecurity, cloud services and edge services,

• Clinical translations – industrial Uptake, including standardization and interoperability,

• Ethical consideration and Societal adoption,

• Transformational Vision- Policy Creation and Implementation towards Proactive Healthcare.

During the panel discussion, the Chief Scientist stressed the importance of science supporting policy and elaborated further on the importance of quality data to support decision making systems providing insight for government, highlighting that further research is conducted on how AI can help advance predictive, diagnostic, and personalized treatment through the implementation of Digital twins for healthcare.

The symposium also featured a series of sessions including:

• Micro-scale tumor digital twins, by Igor Balaz,

• Insights on the ethical consideration of Digital Twins: The OPTOMICS Case, by Anne Demoisy,

• From DNA to Digital twins; Redefining healthcare through Personal Genomics, by Gokhan Ertayla,

• An AI- Enhances digital twin for the prediction of stroke and celebrovascular events through computational modelling of carotid artery disease,

• Digital twins for model-driven non-invasive brain stimulation in Alzheimer’s Disease, by Adria Galan Gadea,

• From chips to tissues: combining in silico and in vitro tools in skeletal tissue engineering, by Liesbet Geris,

• The Role of standards in defining an ecosystem for Virtual Human Twins, by Martin Golebiewski,

• Digital Twins in Healthcare: A look into the future, by Andrian Ionescu

• Explainable Digital Twins, by Antonis Kakas

• Diving Deeper into the Future: Harnessing the Synergy of Digital Twins and Triplets.