Out of Silos
IMAG Consortium Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Photo: Ernie Branson
Scientists use computational modeling—a mix of mathematics, statistics, physics and computer science—to understand complex systems, from the weather to the mechanics of blood vessels. The interagency modeling and analysis group (IMAG) consists of representatives from multiple federal agencies that fund research in multiscale modeling of biomedical, biological and behavioral systems.
IMAG convened for a 3-day meeting recently at Natcher Conference Center. This year’s meeting celebrated the 10th anniversary for the Multiscale Modeling Consortium, the group of researchers from across the country and around the world whose research has been promoted by the IMAG agencies. The consortium represents more than 100 projects relevant to multiscale modeling.
“Over the past 10 years, we’ve been building this momentum, energy and excitement for developing computational models that cross scales in time and space,” said Dr. Grace Peng, chair of IMAG and director of the NIBIB program in computational modeling, simulation and analysis. “Over the last decade, we have brought people out of their silos studying one particular scale of how this cell or that organ behaves. The conversations in this consortium and at this meeting motivate modelers to go outside those bounds to think above and below their focused scales of interest, which could benefit the entire biomedical research community.”