David Nickerson Bioengineering Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (d.nickersonauckland.ac.nz). Dr. Nickerson received his Ph.D. degree in bioengineering at The University of Auckland in 2005. His work focused on computational modeling of cardiac electromechanics and the use of XML languages to specify simulation-specific mathematical models. He currently works as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Bioengineering Institute at The University of Auckland, where he is developing anatomically and biophysically based models of cardiac electromechanics and the computational tools required to solve these models as part of a Wellcome Trust (UK)-funded Heart Physiome project. Dr. Nickerson also continues to play an active role in the development of the CellML language and its associated software development.

Martyn Nash Bioengineering Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (martyn.nashauckland.ac.nz). Dr. Nash is a Research Scientist at the Bioengineering Institute and a Senior Lecturer in Engineering Science at The University of Auckland, New Zealand. He received his B.E. degree with first-class honors in engineering science in 1991, and his Ph.D. degree, focusing on finite element modeling of ventricular mechanics, in 1998, both from The University of Auckland. From 1997 to 2002, he worked as a postdoctoral research scientist in the Laboratory of Physiology at Oxford University, focusing on the characterization of the electrical activity of animal and human hearts under normal and pathological conditions. Since 2003, Dr. Nash has been engaged in undergraduate teaching of the Biomedical Engineering degree program at The University of Auckland. His primary research interests are concerned with understanding the electrical and mechanical function of the heart, with particular emphasis on elucidating mechanisms of arrhythmia and fibrillation.

Poul Nielsen Bioengineering Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (p.nielsenauckland.ac.nz). Dr. Nielsen received a B.Sc. (physics and mathematics) degree in 1978, a B.E. (engineering science) degree in 1981, and a Ph.D. (finite element description of the architecture of the heart) degree at The University of Auckland in 1987. He subsequently spent 30 months as a postdoctoral fellow at the Biomedical Engineering Unit, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. He is currently a Research Scientist at the Bioengineering Institute, Senior Lecturer in Engineering Science, and coordinator of the Biomedical Engineering program at The University of Auckland. Dr. Nielsen's research interests include the development of modeling tools and instrumentation associated with soft-tissue mechanics (skin, breast, and brain) and muscle thermodynamics, the creation of XML-based markup languages (CellML and FieldML) to facilitate the exchange of biological models, and the development of ontology and graphically based tools for creating and editing biological models.

Nicolas Smith Bioengineering Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (np.smithauckland.ac.nz). Dr. Smith completed an engineering degree in 1993 in the Department of Engineering Science at The University of Auckland. After three years working in industry, he returned to graduate study at The University of Auckland, completing a Ph.D. degree in 1999 in bioengineering, focusing on the development of a mathematical model of coronary blood. He then completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in physiology at the University of Oxford. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Engineering Science and the leader of the Metabolic Modeling group in the Bioengineering Institute at The University of Auckland. His research interests are focused on the mathematical modeling of metabolism at multiple spatial and temporal scales. This includes coupling of cellular models of contraction and electrophysiology to tissue-scale finite-element models of mechanics and perfusion. With these techniques, a biophysically based framework to elucidate the mechanisms underlying pathologies such as ischemic heart failure is being developed.

Peter Hunter Bioengineering Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (p.hunterauckland.ac.nz). Dr. Hunter completed an engineering degree in 1971 in theoretical and applied mechanics at The University of Auckland, New Zealand, a Master of Engineering degree in 1972, also at The University of Auckland, for solving the equations of arterial blood flow, and a D.Phil. (Ph.D.) degree in physiology at the University of Oxford in 1975 for finite-element modeling of ventricular mechanics. His major research interests since then have been modeling many aspects of the human body using specially developed computational algorithms and an anatomically and biophysically based approach that incorporates detailed anatomical and microstructural measurements and material properties into continuum models. The interrelated electrical, mechanical, and biochemical functions of the heart, for example, have been modeled in the first “physiome” model of an organ. As the current Co-chairman of the Physiome Committee of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, Dr. Hunter is helping to lead the international Physiome Project, which aims to use computational methods for understanding the integrated physiological function of the body in terms of the structure and function of tissues, cells, and proteins. He is currently Director of the Bioengineering Institute at The University of Auckland and Director of Computational Physiology at Oxford University.