Cross-
Cutting
Research Area
Modeling the Individuality of Health and Disease for More Accurate Decision Making
A Patient-Centric Approach - Providing Diagnosis and Treatment Tailored to Each Individual
An Overview: Computational Medicine
What is Computational Medicine?
Computational Medicine uses advanced mathematical and simulation approaches to model the human body in a spectrum ranging from the molecule to the organ to the entire body and ultimately, to the health care system. To accurately represent such complex systems, the models need to capture the individuality of health and disease for accurate decision making at all levels. Ranging from the patient to the policy, these require state-of-the-art computational capabilities to make them a reality. The models can be theory–, knowledge–, or data–driven, or any combination of the three.
Current research areas
Research is multifaceted, ranging from foundational advances in theory, methods and algorithms, to real-world impact in societal grand challenge problems.
Medical imaging
Molecular biophysics
Cardiovascular Science
Neuroscience
Oncology
Genomic dataset analysis
Computational Medicine Portfolio
Portfolio programs promote cross-disciplinary scholarship and study by bringing together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines whose interests transcend the boundaries of traditional academic departments. The Computational Medicine Portfolio will provide an opportunity for UT Austin graduate students to pursue a program of study that will prepare them to interact and collaborate with members of the medical community on interdisciplinary, cutting-edge research.
Working with partners
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Oden Institute’s Center for Computational Oncology, led by Dr. Tom Yankeelov, and TACC are working together to find new cancer treatments through integrating oncological data with mechanism-based modeling techniques. MD Anderson is one of the world's largest and most respected centers devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. Read more about our collaborations.
The Willerson Center for Cardiovascular Modeling and Simulation, led by Dr. Michael Sacks, at Oden Institute has been a long-standing partner of the Texas Heart institute (THI). The THI is recognized internationally for research programs in cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, regenerative medicine and pathology. The partnership with the Oden Institute is underpinned by research to advance computational modeling of the cardiovascular system with a view to providing tailored care for each individual patient suffering from heart disease — the number one cause of death worldwide.
Centers and Groups
To learn more about projects and people in Computational Medicine, explore the centers and groups with research activities in this cross-cutting research area.
Center for Computational Oncology
Willerson Center for Cardiovascular Modeling and Simulation
News in brief
News
Oct. 16, 2026
Testing Treatments Before the Trials: Oden Researchers Build Virtual Clinical Trials for Breast Cancer
Oden researchers Elisa Serafini and Gauri Patel explain how they’re building virtual clinical trials. These are computer simulations that test treatments on “synthetic patients” modeled on data from the I-SPY2 breast cancer trial, with the aim of helping researchers design faster, more effective real-world trials.
News
Oct. 16, 2026
New Funded Projects from Joint Center for Computational Oncology Integrate Predictive Digital Twins to Improve Patient Outcomes
Since the program began in 2020, 29 projects have been funded, each of which bring together UT Austin and UT MD Anderson researchers. In addition to funding, project support includes compute hours at the Texas Advanced Computing Center.
Media Coverage
Sept. 30, 2026
TAMEST Profile: Charles “Charley” Taylor, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin
Professor Charles Taylor, featured in the recent TAMEST Newsletter, is the Medicine Co-Chair for the upcoming 2027 Annual Conference: Frontiers of Discovery, taking place February 1–3, 2027, in Houston, Texas, hosted by TAMEST.