Systems Biology in Action: Highlights from the 2025 International Conference on Systems Biology
Research Spotlight
October 2025
Since its inaugural event in Tokyo in 2000, the International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB) has grown into the world’s largest and longest-running gathering in the field, serving as the leading forum for sharing the latest discoveries and innovations in systems biology.
We were honoured to host the 24th edition of this prestigious conference this year in Dublin. The five-day programme featured an outstanding line-up of international speakers, poster sessions, networking events, hands-on training workshops, and the official launch of the second phase of the Precision Oncology Ireland cancer research consortium.
A highlight of the conference were the 5 keynote speakers, who’s talks provided an exceptional overview of diversity and depth of systems biology research and its capacity to uncover new insights into disease processes.
The first keynote was presented by Dr Sabrina Spencer (University of Colorado Boulder), who also had the honour of opening the conference on Sunday, 5th October. Dr. Spencer’s work utilises live-cell microscopy of cells marked with genetically encoded fluorescent sensors to track cell signalling dynamics. These findings help to reveal how genetically identical cells respond differently to targeted therapies, with important implications for personalising patient treatment.
Monday’s programme was kicked off with Prof. Ines Thiele (University of Galway). Prof Thiele uses a computational modelling approach, building comprehensive “digital twin” models of the human gut and its microbiome to better understand inherited metabolic disease and the influence of diet on human health. Prof Thiele’s research highlights the power of digital-twin modelling in resolving complex biological questions.
Wednesday’s keynote was delivered by Prof. Dong-yup Lee (Sungkyunkwan University), who’s talk also featured digital-twin technology. Prof. Lee utilises digital twins to optimize biomanufacturing processes, enabling greater levels of control over cell growth characteristics and dynamics, and improving production and quality of vital biotherapeutic molecules.
Next up was Prof. Kathryn Lilley (University of Cambridge), who established the Cambridge Centre for Proteomics and leads a research programme developing new technologies to map subcellular localization of RNA and protein. By analysing these on a cell-wide level, her team is able to analyse how post-transcriptional and post-translational processing affects localisation, including relocalisation in response to cellular stress.
The final keynote speaker of ICSB2025 was delivered by Dr Rune Linding (Humboldt University of Berlin). Alongside international collaborators, Dr. Linding’s team has developed machine learning tools allowing for detailed analysis of the spatial and temporal assembly of mammalian signalling networks. By leveraging these tools to interrogate genome-scale quantitative datasets, Dr. Linding’s research aims to understand the transmission and processing of information through biological networks and it’s effects on cellular behaviour.
Together, these 5 keynotes highlighted the key strengths of a systems biology approach in developing answers to complex biological questions. From the incredibly fine-detail of localisation of individual molecules of proteins and RNA to modelling complex interactions between groups of cell, systems biology provides a diverse toolbox capable of understanding and predicting all levels of both healthy and disease-state human biology.
The success of ICSB is exemplified in the words below of the 3 organisation committee co-chairs;
“The keynotes shone a bright light on the breath of topics and ever increasing scope of systems biology applications. It is hugely exciting to be part of this dynamic community and it will be for many years to come”.
Prof. Walter Kolch (SBI, UCD)
"This year’s meeting vividly demonstrated how systems biology continues to expand its frontiers, integrating powerful experimental approaches with computational innovation. The growing synergy between data-driven modeling, single-cell technologies, and computational modeling-based interpretation is transforming our understanding of complex diseases and opening new avenues for precision medicine. It’s inspiring to see how rapidly the field is moving and how collaboration across disciplines is driving genuine scientific breakthroughs.”
Prof. Boris Kholodenko (SBI, UCD)
"Many sessions highlighted the tremendous progress being made in both experimental and computational biology. Of particular relevance in developing new cancer therapeutics in the significant advances in single cell proteomics and relationships between mRNA and protein levels. The advances in cellmaps and AI-driven analyses of cellular functions will greatly influence precision cancer therapeutics.”
Prof. Ravi Iyengar (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
Read more about SBI researchers' ground breaking work in our series of "Spotlight" articles