For a detailed description of the fundamental questions, aims, challenges, analytic and modeling approaches, theoretic framework, impacts, current and future directions of research in Network Physiology see “The New Field of Network Physiology: Building the Human Physiolome”

The multidisciplinary field of Network Physiology focuses on whole-body research to understand the mechanisms through which diverse physiological systems and subsystems across spatiotemporal scales — from the metabolic, genomic and cellular scale, to organs and the organism level — interact to synchronize their dynamics and coordinate their functions. Investigations in Network Physiology aim to uncover the laws of cross-communication among systems, and establish basic principles underlying the integration of systems and organs as a network to generate distinct physiological states and behaviors in health and disease.

In addition to defining health and disease through biochemical, structural, dynamical and regulatory changes in individual physiological systems, the conceptual framework of Network Physiology emphasizes the signaling pathways, coordination and network interactions among systems and subsystems as a hallmark of physiological state and function. Integrating data-driven empirical and theoretical knowledge across disciplines ranging from applied mathematics, data science, physics and biomedical engineering to biology, genomics and proteomics, neuroscience, physiology, psychology and clinical medicine, Network Physiology develops the methodical instrumentarium — including integrated platforms of biomedical devices and sensor networks for multisystem and multimodality data recording and imaging, large databases development and curation, computational and analytical methods — and the theoretical framework necessary to address the fundamental question of how physiological states and functions at the organism level emerge out of complex dynamic interactions across systems from biochemical pathways to cellular, tissue, and organ interactions to whole-body behaviors and conditions.

Launched in 2021, Frontiers in Network Physiology is the first and only peer-reviewed scientific journal dedicated to advancing this emerging discipline. The journal is committed to furthering our understanding of how physiological systems and subsystems interact to synchronize functions and integrate as networks to generate physiological states and conditions in health and disease. As a multidisciplinary, open-access forum, it communicates impactful discoveries to both academics and clinicians, and provides a platform for cutting-edge empirical and theoretical research spanning every level of physiological organization, from metabolic, subcellular, and cellular processes to integrated organ systems and the whole organism, while also addressing challenges, current frontiers, and future developments in the field.

Led by Prof. Plamen Ch. Ivanov (Boston University, USA), Frontiers in Network Physiology welcomes research contributions from scientists with backgrounds in adaptive networks of dynamical systems, applied mathematics and nonlinear dynamics, information theory, physics, neuroscience, physiology and psycho-physiology, clinical medicine, biomedical engineering, computational and data science, AI, intelligent devices, and robotics. The journal embraces both basic research and clinical studies aiming to promote discoveries of the laws and control mechanisms that underlie physiologic network interactions in health and disease.

Frontiers in Network Physiology encourages research focused on the development of novel biomedical device platforms and multimodal data acquisition systems — including imaging modalities, sensor networks, and wearables — for synchronized, high-frequency, multichannel recordings of physiological processes across scales, from biochemical to the organism level. It also promotes the advancement of computational, analytic, and modeling approaches to identify forms of interaction, causality, and principles of systems integration across spatiotemporal scales. Together, these efforts support the creation of the Human Physiolome: a comprehensive dynamic BigData and atlas of thousands (possibly millions) of dynamic maps representing physiologic network interactions derived from large-scale signals across multiple levels and physiological systems.

The journal aims to bridge the gap between basic physiology, clinical medicine, and other related disciplines by exploring the interactions and network integration among systems and sub-systems across levels as a hallmark of physiologic state and function. Topics of interest include:

Functional forms of physiologic coupling, their time variation, and effects of pairwise interactions on the dynamics and control of individual systems
Network studies on structural and dynamical aspects of physiological subsystems and systems that transcend space and time scales
Information flow and network topology in relation to cellular and neuronal assemblies and autonomic control of organ systems
Networks comprised of diverse physiological systems and associations between physiologic network structure and function
Basic principles of hierarchical network organization of systems and the entire body
Evolution of pairwise coupling and network topology with transitions across physiological states
Role of time-dependent network interactions for emergent transitions in network topology and function
Networks of physiological networks transcending interactions of subsystems to interactions among organs
Self-organization of physiological networks, synergetic principles and applications
Control, causality, and higher-order interactions in physiological networks
Structural and functional connectivity
Emergence of global behaviors and states from multi-scale networks interactions
Mind-Body networks of structural, functional, and metabolic processes in central-autonomic regulation in health and disease; mind-body interventions and effects on physiological networks; impacts on psychological networks and quality of life
Networks of the central, autonomic, and peripheral nervous systems
Physiological networks in the emergence of cognition and interoception
Networks of pain signaling from ion channels to brain and organs
Manipulation, control, and global dynamics of networks in response to clinical treatment
Cascades of failure across systems as encountered in critical care
Physiological networks in exercise, training, fatigue, rehabilitation, and sports medicine
Network mechanisms underlying clinical conditions such as sleep disorders, coma and traumatic brain injury, and neurodegenerative disorders
Processes and networks in the endocrine system, their role for hormones release and control, growth and reproduction
Effects of aging and frailty on physiological network and relationship with age-related functional decline
Temperature regulatory networks
Networks in the sleep and circadian system
Network Physiology of Cancer
Networks in Organoids and Networks of Organiods
Cascades of failure across systems as encountered in critical care
Co-controllability of drug-disease-gene networks
Wound healing-related networks
Network characteristics and metrics in diagnosis, prognosis and assessments of treatments
Artificial Intelligence algorithms for Network Physiology
Developing integrated platforms of biomedical devices and sensor networks for multisystem and multimodality data recording
Whole-body multimodality synchronous imaging from cellular to organism level
The development and curation of large databases; building atlas of dynamic maps of physiological interactions within and across levels, the Human Physiolome
Development of physiologically inspired AI algorithms, electronic and robotic systems based on the laws and principles of physiologic network interactions
Network Physiology education in basic sciences and in medicine

The journal aims to contribute to the understanding of how physiological systems dynamically interact and integrate their functions, ultimately leading to scientific breakthroughs in the field of Network Physiology.

Frontiers in Network Physiology is committed to advancing developments in the field by providing unrestricted access to articles and communicating scientific knowledge to researchers and the public. Advances in Network Physiology will revolutionize our understanding of health and disease. We invite the community to join this new multidisciplinary science, and take part in an exciting journey of new discoveries and applications to build the Human Physiolome

The journal also welcomes submissions which support and advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 3: good health and well-being.

Manuscripts submitted to Frontiers in Network Physiology should include an explanation of how the article is relevant to Network Physiology in the introduction or the discussion of reported new results, and have "Network Physiology" as a keyword.

Impact

Frontiers in Network Physiology

Systems Interactions and Organ Networks