The Immunology Imaging and Modelling (I2M) Network, funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is being run out of the University of Leeds but also involves multi-disciplinary research teams from a large number of sites, including Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Medical Research.
Despite huge recent advances in medical science, including many drugs that target the immune system, scientists still do not fully understand this complex system. It not only orchestrates the processes by which our bodies fight disease, in the case of things like diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, it can also cause disease.
Dr Carmen Molína-Paris, network co-ordinator said: "The ability to track parasites and cells in real time using novel imaging techniques is allowing exciting new insights and will help us measure the interactions between the different parts of the immune system."
"This will provide a theoretical and computational model of the immune system, giving a complete picture that researchers from across all disciplines can refer to and draw upon."
Pharma companies are increasingly using mathematical models to predict how good - or bad - a drug is. These models range from predicting atomic effects (using quantum mechanics), through molecular effects (how well a drug binds to its targets), all the way to whole organs or organisms (predicting the results of a clinical trials). This latter approach is commonly called 'systems biology'.
These advances have been made possible by more powerful computers that can do the necessary calculations in a suitable time-frame. Also, the tools are becoming more and more user-friendly, meaning they are no longer only used by specialists. The techniques have a crucial role to play in helping the pharma industry to avoid late-stage failures and thus to lower the cost of drug development.
"Mathematical immunology is maturing into a discipline where modelling helps everyone to interpret data and resolve controversies. Most importantly, it suggests novel experiments allowing for better and more quantitative interpretations," said Molína-Paris.
Immunology has traditionally been a qualitative science, describing the cellular and molecular components of the immune system and their functions. However, there is a pressing need to better understand how the components work together as a whole and provide this information in a quantitative format which can be accessed by the entire scientific community.