On January 16, 2026, Professor Alejandro F. Frangi from the University of Manchester, UK, delivered an academic lecture titled "Digital Twin Technology for Large-Scale Computer Simulation Experiments: What Works, What Are the Problems, and What Are the Future Development Directions?" He was the 162nd speaker in the Shenzhen University Medical Forum series. The forum was organized and chaired by Professor Lei Baiying from the school of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University and drew participation from numerous faculty members and students at the Lihu Campus.     

Professor Baiying Lei presented Professor Alejandro F. Frangi with the "Shenzhen University Medicine Forum" Honorary Medal

In his presentation, Professor Frangi explored the transformative potential of digital twin technology in advancing large-scale computer simulation trials. He discussed the limitations of traditional clinical trials, including ethical and economic constraints, and presented successful case studies that demonstrated the effectiveness of computer-based simulation approaches. He also emphasized the critical role of governance and regulatory frameworks in building public trust and driving the adoption of these innovative technologies. Looking ahead, he envisioned a future in which computer simulation trials are fully integrated into evidence-based medicine and contribute to improved patient safety.

Brief introduction of the Speaker:

Professor Alejandro F. Frangi is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, IEEE, SPIE, MICCAI, and EAMBES. He currently holds the Turing Chair Professorship at the University of Manchester, UK, and serves as a professor across several faculties, including Health Sciences, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Computer Science, and Science and Engineering. He also holds professorships in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at KU Leuven, Belgium. He has previously held faculty positions at the University of Sheffield, the University of Leeds, and Pompeu Fabra University in Spain, and brings extensive international experience in academic leadership and research management.

Professor Frangi is a globally recognized leader in computational medicine. His work focuses on multimodal medical image analysis, personalized health modeling, and the development of artificial intelligence–based diagnostic systems. He has led major research projects funded by the EU’s European Research Council (ERC) and the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). He is the creator of the open-source medical image processing platform GIMIAS and the health data modeling platform MULTI-X. His contributions to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular imaging, physiological simulation, and AI-based diagnostics are widely recognized.

In addition, Professor Frangi serves as associate editor for leading journals such as IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging and Medical Image Analysis. He is a former board member of MICCAI and chaired the editorial board of an Elsevier book series, playing a key role in shaping the global field of medical image computing.