Dear Colleagues

 It is a great pleasure to invite you to the 4th International Conference on Complexity in Acute Illness in Cologne. The conference is held in the name of the Society of Complexity in Acute Illness (SCAI) whose major purpose is to promote the development, interpretation and dissemination of research concerning all aspects of complex modeling of acute illness and its consequences.

Complex systems approaches, involving in silico modeling, simulation of systems biology, chaos theory and artificial neural networks can augment the classical hypothesis driven approach that has largely failed to stem the tide of critical illness. The field of complex systems research is rapidly growing gathering scientists from diverse disciplines (clinicians, basic scientists, informaticians, mathematicians etc.) across the world to engage scientific exchange focused on critical illness. The upcoming conference will present novel original research related to modeling inflammation, organ failure and outcome prediction as well as offering a platform for young researchers. We also look forward to continue the fruitful dialog between industry and academia in order to speed up the development of novel therapeutics and to improve clinical trial design. Investigators are asked to submit abstracts for posters and a young investigators award session.

Welcome in Cologne, a young city with a history of over 2000 years in the middle of Europe.

E. Neugebauer
Conference Chairman