AI and Network Science for Biological Systems and Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite submissions to the Special Issue "AI and Network Science for Biological Systems and Human Health".

The convergence of artificial intelligence and network science is revolutionizing our understanding of complex biological systems and their implications for human health. Biological systems and human health are governed by complex networks spanning molecular interactions, cellular communication, neural circuitry, and population-level disease dynamics. By integrating AI-driven analytics with the principles of network science, researchers can now uncover hidden patterns, predict emergent behaviors, and design targeted interventions with unprecedented precision. This synergy holds transformative potential for personalized medicine, drug discovery, infectious disease modeling, and the decoding of multiscale biological organization.

This Special Issue aims to highlight cutting-edge research that harnesses AI and network science to address fundamental challenges in biology and healthcare. We seek contributions that advance theoretical frameworks, develop novel computational methods, or deliver actionable clinical or biological insights. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, modeling of biological networks (e.g., gene regulatory, protein–protein interaction, neural, or ecological networks), AI-based prediction of network dynamics, graph-based machine learning, multi-omics data integration, network medicine, patient stratification, biomarker discovery, treatment response prediction, and infectious disease modeling. We particularly encourage submissions that address important challenges in biomedical data analysis, such as heterogeneity, sparsity, scalability, robustness, interpretability, and clinical or biological validation. Contributions that combine methodological novelty with strong biological insight or translational relevance are especially welcome.

We invite original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and application-driven case studies that present significant advances in using AI and network science to deepen our understanding of biological systems and contribute to more precise, predictive, and personalized approaches to human health.

Selected Topics (not limited to the following):

• Graph neural networks and topological data analysis for biological networks;
• AI-driven reconstruction and inference of gene regulatory, signaling, and metabolic networks;
• Network medicine, including disease module identification, drug repurposing, and comorbidity analysis;
• Multi-modal data integration using genomics, proteomics, imaging, and clinical records;
• AI for patient stratification, biomarker discover, and treatment response prediction;
• Spreading dynamics and intervention strategies for infectious diseases;
• Neural circuit analysis and brain network modeling for neurological disorders;
• Explainable and interpretable AI for network biology and biomedicine;
• Scalable and robust learning on large-scale biomedical networks;
• Applications in precision oncology, immunotherapy, aging, and population health.

Dr. Ping Luo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Computers is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• artificial intelligence
• network science
• biological networks
• network medicine
• graph neural networks
• multi-omics data integration
• gene regulatory networks
• protein–protein interaction networks
• neural circuit analysis
• disease module discovery
• drug repurposing
• precision medicine
• personalized healthcare
• infectious disease modeling
• spreading dynamics
• topological data analysis (TDA)
• explainable AI (XAI) in biomedicine
• multi-modal learning in healthcare
• patient stratification
• biomarker discovery