Federico Reali's oral presentation
From 8 to 10 July 2026, COSBI is participating in the UK-QSP Training Workshop 2026, hosted by the University of Warwick. The workshop brings together researchers from academia and industry to explore the latest advances in Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP), mechanistic modelling, and model-informed drug development through invited lectures, contributed talks, poster sessions, and hands-on software training.
We are pleased to announce that the abstract “No One-Size-Fits-All: A Computational Review on Virtual Population Generation and Selection” has been selected for an oral presentation during the workshop scientific programme.
On Friday, 10 July, Federico Reali, Group Leader of the Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) Group, will present this work, carried out in collaboration with Niccolò D’Agaro, Elena Righetti, Marco Bozza, Stefano Giampiccolo, and Simone Pezzuto.
The presentation addresses one of the key challenges in Quantitative Systems Pharmacology: the generation and selection of virtual populations. Virtual populations are fundamental for capturing biological variability and supporting model-informed drug development, yet choosing the most appropriate generation strategy remains highly dependent on the characteristics of the model and the scientific question being addressed.
By comparing different virtual population generation and selection approaches across multiple mechanistic models, the study demonstrates that there is no universal best algorithm. Instead, the most appropriate strategy depends on factors such as model structure, available evidence, study endpoints, and computational cost. The work also highlights how emerging approaches, including machine learning and surrogate modelling, can further improve the efficiency of virtual population workflows.
COSBI‘s participation in the workshop reflects its continued commitment to advancing computational methodologies for systems pharmacology and contributing to the international QSP community through innovative research and collaboration.
We look forward to engaging with colleagues at Warwick and discussing how new computational strategies can support the next generation of mechanistic models in drug development.
Learn more about the UK-QSP Training Workshop 2026
