The Danish Engineering news paper “Inginøren“‘s Journalist Thomas Djursing inteviews Founder of Parametric Human Project on “Digital Twins” initiatives along with a number of related initiatives in the pursuit of creating in silico models of the human body boosting the development of medicine and avoiding the use of animal testing.

Thomas Djursing mentions a number of initiatives focusing of various elements of the complex nature of the human biology:

• Virtual Physiological Human, Belgium
• Human Cell Atlas, Europe and USA
• Virtual Liver, Germany
• EU-Toxrisk, EU project
• Human Protein Atlas, Sweden
• Parametric Huma Project, Canada and Denmark

Further researchers from initiatives at Novo Nordisk and Oxford Big Data Institute, Lundbeck, Københavns University are referenced in the article.

The article is in Danish and available at www.ing.dk.

Illustration by Ingeniøren.

Parametric Human Project in Fast Company as an example of great new innovations in the new promising North American Innovation Hub  MaRS Discovery District, Toronto.

https://conferencecentre.wellcomegenomecampus.org/news-events/events/biodata-world-congress-2017/

A great experience participating at BioData World Congress 2017. Absolutely great to learn how far several organizations have progressed their platforms for sharing of research data. To mention some:

• The Welcome Trust Sanger Institute
  • The Institute is a centre-stage, world leader in genome research and aims to deliver new insights into human and pathogen biology that change the course of biology and medicine.
• The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH)
  • The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) takes a human rights approach to creating the tools and standards for responsible genomic data sharing.
• ELIXIR
  • ELIXIR unites Europe’s leading life science organisations in managing and safeguarding the increasing volume of data being generated by publicly funded research. It coordinates, integrates and sustains bioinformatics resources across its member states and enables users in academia and industry to access services that are vital for their research.
• PHG Foundation
  • PHG Foundation works to ensure biomedical innovation delivers better health for all
• Eagle genomics
  • Our award winning software solutions give scientists instant, smart access to the right data and free up their time to let them do the science.
• Databiology
  • DATABIOLOGY MAKES DISTRIBUTED BIOMEDICAL DATA ANALYSIS EASY
• EMBL-EBI
  • The home for big data in biology
  • At the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), we help scientists realise the potential of ‘big data’ in biology, exploiting complex information to make discoveries that benefit humankind.
• Pistoia Alliance, Inc.
  • LOWERING BARRIERS TO R&D INNOVATION

We are proud to launch a new website for our domain https://parametrichuman.org. Our new website support our new global TECH non-profit organization approach by communicating the organizational vision and mission to assist new stakeholders and funding partners to understand the purpose of Parametric Human Project.

The new website also provides insights of the results of the past research proof-of-concept project, supporting the previous small scale multi-disciplinary collaboration effort, demonstrating the value of combining Medical Science, Computer Science and Industry Technology research achieving more and bringing research forward.

At the 6th triennial congress of ADT (Advanced Digital Technology in Head and Neck Reconstruction) 2017, Dr. Azam Khan presented the closing keynote entitled “The Parametric Human Project: Advances in the Detailed Modeling of the Muscle-Architecture in the Head and Neck”.

Abstract: The human head and neck region of the body can be viewed as a complex system of multifunctional coordinated and overlapping musculoskeletal events. To develop realistic simulations of these activities, a model of sufficient fidelity is required. As this is a focus of the Parametric Human Project, we show progress along these fronts from project member institutions. We present progress from Dr. Anne Agur’s group on the musculoaponeurotic architecture of the extrinsic tongue, pharyngeal, and soft palate musculature, and from Dr. Sid Fels group on the integrated simulation of mastication, swallowing, and speech production. From our group at Autodesk Research we show multiscale time and space representations that may be used as a foundation for the systems level simulation of human physiology. The ultimate goal is to develop a surgical level-of-detail model where intervention designs can be tested in silico to show the outcome impact on all related functions.

On behalf of Parametric Human Project, Executive Director Steen Schledermann attends eHealth Week 2017 at Malta to engage with the European eHealth community – seeking answers to sharing of research and medical data, interoperability, unleashing the value of Big Health Data to address increasing cost of Health systems and at the same time achieving compliance with the EU GDPR in force by May 2018.

The Parametric Human Project is proud to announce the hiring of its Executive Director, Steen Schledermann. Steen holds MSc Engineering degree from Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and MIT IT Strategy and Management degree from IT University Denmark. Steen has 20 years’ experience in software development, operations and support. The last 15 years in the field of Medical Devices and Medical Devices Software for audiology clinical use along with general management of corporate Regulatory, Quality Assurance, Information Security and IT operations, implementing and maintaining ISO 13485 Medical Devices Quality Management System and ISO 27001 Information Security Management System certifications.

Steen Schledermann is the first employee of the TECH non-profit start-up organization based in our IT University office in Denmark and tasked with the job to establish the Parametric Human Project as a formal global non-profit organization.

Steen Schledermann is member of the Board of Directors of Parametric Human Project, Canada and Parametric Human Project, Danmark.

The Parametric Human Project is proud to announce the incorporation of the Parametric Human Project, Danmark as a non-profit association in accordance with the Danish legislation. This association forms the second non-profit entity of the global non-profit organization envisioned by the Parametric Human Project Vision. The Danish entity establishes a European footprint and provides eligibility of Europe based organization, project and fundraising activities. The non-profit entities of Parametric Human Project is bound by equal Bylaws objects and mutual MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) ensuring a uniform approach in the realization of the Vision and Mission.

Parametric Human Project, Danmark is located at office 5E11 at IT University, Rued Langgaards Vej 7, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark. CVR: 38169580.

The 4th International Workshop on Biomechanical and Parametric Modeling of Human Anatomy (PMHA-2016), was held on August 26-27. Hosted at the University of British Columbia, this year’s workshop included 53 participants (anatomists, dentists, oro-facial surgeons, linguists, computer scientists, and engineers) from 22 academic-, industry-, and government-based institutions from around the world. Once again, a special issue of Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization is planned to showcase a number of the submissions in a published format. The special issue is expected to be published in late 2017.

The Parametric Human Project is proud to sponsor the GET (Genomes Environments Traits) Conference, in Vienna, Austria (September 17-19). This year celebrates the 10^th anniversary of the Personal Genome Project and the 25^th anniversary of the launch of the Human Genome Project.

The 3^rd International Workshop on Biomechanical and Parametric Modeling of Human Anatomy
(PMHA-2015) was held on August 29-30, 2015. Hosted in at the Autodesk office in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, this year’s workshop included 64 participants (computer scientists, anatomists, dentists, oro-facial surgeons, linguists, and engineers) from 27 academic-, industry-, and government-based institutions from around the world. Once again, a number of the submitted workshop papers will be selected to appear in a special issue of Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization, which is due to be published in late 2016.

The Parametric Human Project establishes a second office for its not-for-profit activities, this time in the EU at the spectacular facilities of the IT University of Copenhagen.

James Li presented an overview of the Parametric Human Project at the Visualizing Biological Data (VIZBI 2015) conference. The poster highlighted the progress that has been made toward digitizing the complex architecture of all the muscles of the human body from a single specimen, showing the muscles in relation to the underlying bony anatomy.

The original NSERC-CRD grant that was used to launch the Parametric Human Project has been renewed for an additional year. This funding will allow the multi-disciplinary, collaborative research initiative between Autodesk Research, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Toronto to leverage its research momentum and to continue advancing the capture, modelling, and description of human anatomical variation.

The Parametric Human Project now procured office space at the MaRS Discovery District, positioning itself in an innovation hub located at the heart of Canada’s largest research cluster in downtown Toronto.

The 2^nd International Workshop on Biomechanical and Parametric Modeling of Human Anatomy
(PMHA-2014) was held on August 22-23, 2014. Hosted once again in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the second PMHA workshop included 48 participants (computer scientists, anatomists, dentists, oro-facial surgeons, linguists, and engineers) from 22 academic-, industry-, and government-based institutions from around the world. A number of the submitted workshop papers will be selected to appear in a special issue of Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization, which is due to be published in late 2015.

The Parametric Human Project is now registered as a not-for-profit corporation in Canada. An important aspect of the Parametric Human Project is to develop and maintain the cyber-infrastructure and the data sharing agreements between institutions. These will be the primary activities of the organization.

We are in the process of developing a partnership with the Canadian NCE on Graphics, Animation and New Media (GRAND) for a multi-year collaboration that will focus on creating the technology to synthesize believable, lifelike human behaviours and functions. The services developed will comprise the neuromuscular and functional systems that drive human motions and intentions, as well as the expressive, cognitive, and social behaviours that make us human.

Thanks, again, to funding through the NSERC Engage program, new partners have been added at the University of Toronto to focus on improving our database architecture. Data management work is being initiated alongside anatomical, geometric, and ontological analyses to improve the searchability, accessibility, and (re-)usability of data and models within the repository, as well as to support workflow provenance and jurisdictional data privacy standards.

New interest has been generated across many fields through the presentation of PHP-related research at international conferences related to anatomy (AACA 2013), biomechanics (CMBBE 2013 and ISB 2013), computer graphics (SIGGRAPH 2013), as well as surgical and rehabilitation medicine (AAMP/ISMR 2013). Beginning as a collection of partners and collaborators from 6 primary institutions, at its inception, the Parametric Human Project now includes over 50 participants from 18 institutions worldwide.

Thanks to funding through the  pro NSERC Engage gram, we have added new partners at the University of Toronto to focus on knowledge representation of the variation in human anatomy. In development is an ontology that formalizes the existence of anatomical landmarks as geometric features, as well as defines the spatial relations that are required to formally describe the human anatomy in geometric terms, and to facilitate the logical and statistical querying of these anatomical features.

The 1st International Workshop on Biomechanical and Parametric Modeling of Human Anatomy (PMHA-2013) was held on January 28-29, 2013. Hosted in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the inaugural workshop included 42 participants (computer scientists, anatomists, dentists, oro-facial surgeons, linguists, and engineers) from 14 academic-, industry-, and government-based institutions from around the world. A number of the submitted workshop papers have been selected to appear in a special issue of Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization, entitled Biomechanical and Parametric Modeling of Human Anatomy from Images, which is due to be published in early 2014.

The Parametric Human Project launched on February 1, 2012 as a multi-disciplinary, collaborative research initiative between Autodesk Research, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Toronto under a 3-year NSERC-CRD grant. The scope of this grant focuses on creating a full skeletal atlas and detailed models of the muscles associated with the arm, head, and neck. The assembled team includes experts in anatomy, medical image processing, biomechanical modelling and simulation, as well as computer graphics and human computer interaction. Additional funding has been provided by Autodesk Canada Co., and Faro Technologies has provided equipment to enable laser scanning of skeletal specimens.