Elena N. Naumova

Elena N. Naumova

Corresponding author: elena.naumova@tufts.edu
Tufts Univeristy School of Medicine

Visual analytics is the science of analytical reasoning that facilitates research through the use of interactive visual interfaces. New techniques of visual analytics are designed to aid the understanding of complex systems versus traditional blind-context rules to explore massive volumes of interrelated data. Nowhere else is context more important in analysis than in the emerging fields of life sciences, where amounts of collected data grow increasingly in exponential rates. The complexity of systems in immunology makes visual analytics especially important to sufficiently understand how the immune system works. In this context, our efforts should focus on avoiding accurate but often misleading use of visual interfaces. The proposed approach of data compression and visualization that reveal structural and functional features of immune responses enhances systemic and comprehensive description and provides the platform for hypothesis generation. Further, this can evolve into a powerful visual-analytical tool for prospective and real-time monitoring, and provide an intuitive and interpretable illustration of vital dynamics that govern immune responses in an individual and populations. The undertaken explorations demonstrate the critical role of novel techniques of visual analytics in stimulating research in immunology and other life sciences, and in leading us to understanding of complex biological systems and processes.