Researchers from Liverpool John Moores University, including Prof. Ivan Olier and postdoctoral researchers Dharmesh Mistry and Hector J. Hortua, will represent TARGET at the 9th International Conference on the Virtual Physiological Human (VPH 2026) taking place from 1 to 4 September 2026 in Milan, Italy. They will contribute to the scientific programme and present TARGET’s work on AI-driven digital twins for cardiovascular care. 

Under the theme “Towards the adoption of digital twins in healthcare”, VPH 2026 will bring together researchers, clinicians, industry representatives and policymakers working in in silico medicine, computational modelling and digital twin technologies. The conference will provide an opportunity to exchange knowledge and explore how these technologies can support their wider adoption in healthcare. 

Exploring causal AI and cardiac digital twins 

Dharmesh Mistry will present the abstract “A causal AI-driven Digital Twin of Cardiac Electrophysiology”, authored by Dharmesh Mistry, Prof. Sandra Ortega-Martorell, Zainab Mahmood, Hector J. Hortua, Dr Robyn Lotto, Dr Ellen Dawson and Prof. Ivan Olier from Liverpool John Moores University, together with Prof. Gregory Y.H. Lip from the University of Liverpool. 

Hector J. Hortua will present the abstract “AI-driven Causal Counterfactual Digital Twin of the Left Atrial Appendage”, authored by Hector J. Hortua, Prof. Sandra Ortega-Martorell and Prof. Ivan Olier from Liverpool John Moores University, Dr Timothy Fairbairn from Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, and Prof. Gregory Y.H. Lip from the University of Liverpool. 

Both contributions reflect TARGET’s work to combine computational modelling, clinical knowledge and artificial intelligence in the development of personalised decision-support tools for atrial-fibrillation-related stroke. 

Meet TARGET at the VPH Project Corner 

In addition to the scientific presentations, Prof. Ivan Olier will introduce TARGET and its activities in the VPH Project Corner, where delegates and stakeholders will be able to meet members of the project team and learn more about its work on personalised stroke prevention, acute care and rehabilitation. 

Conference participants are warmly invited to visit the TARGET stand to discover how the project is developing multi-scale computational models and decision-support tools for people at risk of atrial-fibrillation-related stroke. 

More information about VPH 2026 and its programme is available here.