iMetaMed: Transcending disciplinary borders and integrative vision for medicine

Dear Editor,

The convergence of artificial intelligence, big data, and biomedical science has ushered medicine into an era of unprecedented transformation. Precision diagnostics now interrogate disease at molecular resolution through AlphaFold3-enabled protein-structure prediction that guides therapeutic target selection; federated-learning algorithms such as GeneCompass integrate 126 million single-cell transcriptomes to decode gene-regulatory circuits beyond the reach of conventional experimentation; AI-driven drug-discovery platforms compress the bench-to-lead timeline from years to weeks, as demonstrated by Insilico's 46-day DDR1 inhibitor campaign; Leveraging generative AI to bypass the time- and tissue-consuming cycle of serial immunohistochemical staining in conventional histopathology workflows by creating virtual stains; harnessing AI to build virtual cells, thereby opening new windows for probing the mechanisms of life, repairing injury, and treating disease; and emerging AI scribes embedded in teleophthalmology networks screen diabetic retinopathy with dermatologist-level accuracy, extending specialist reach to under resourced regions. We are witnessing the dissolution of the boundary between clinical medicine and computational science; a precision medicine era, co-driven by data, algorithms, and clinical insight, has arrived. Simultaneously, the open-science movement and transparent peer-review practices are revitalizing knowledge dissemination and safeguarding research integrity. We are witnessing, in real time, the dawn of truly integrated medicine.

The exponential accumulation of big data and the leap in analytical power are pushing medicine to a critical point of “information abundance yet cognitive scarcity.” Single-cell omics streams terabyte-scale multidimensional matrices every second, and real-world data refresh at millisecond intervals, yet the widening gaps in terminology, methodology, and ethical frameworks between disciplines accelerate the entropy of knowledge fragments beyond their convergence. Meanwhile, the clinical translation half-life of discoveries remains ~17 years, and > 90% of potential intervention signals fade or distort when crossing disciplinary boundaries. At this intersection of challenge and opportunity, we aim to advance a barrier-free integrative paradigm that dismantles traditional silos and reconstructs a seamless continuum from molecular mechanism to population health, converting the explosive force of data into a propulsive force for medicine.

Emerging infectious agents breach borders; chronic diseases silently proliferate; structural imbalances in health-care resources persist. These intertwined crises demand a coordinated response that transcends disciplines and geographies. iMetaMed embodies the medical extension of the iMeta ethos: It is not merely continuity; it is a new benchmark—interweaving genomic discoveries from bench laboratories, lived realities from community clinics, and urgent imperatives from policy tables into a single, continuous, openly shared knowledge network that sprints the final kilometer from scientific insight to patient benefit.

In the initial phase, we undertook extensive translational medicine explorations: we unified clinical guidance for rare diseases to enable earlier detection, multimodal therapy, and improved patient survival; leveraged tumor-specific electrophysiological signatures to drive precision interventions that curb malignancy and enhance antitumor immunity; demonstrated that silica-membrane contamination is the major confounder in metagenomic surveillance, redefined parvovirus host tropism, and provided tools for trustworthy virus–host–disease attribution; adopted dual-axis slicing with semantic dictionaries to query massive clinical datasets rapidly on everyday hardware; and deployed an intuitive R interface that streamlines UK Biobank extraction by removing manual SQL, thereby accelerating the entire data-mining workflow.

We hold that genuine medical breakthroughs arise only when disciplinary boundaries dissolve and reform. When molecular biologists and data engineers jointly decode single-cell atlases, when clinicians and social scientists codesign real-world trials, when public-health experts and ethicists jointly evaluate the equitable deployment of technology, the “Medicine + X” paradigm is activated. This integration enables genomic findings to be instantaneously embedded in AI algorithms, nano-delivery systems to be seamlessly incorporated into personalized treatment protocols, and economic models to provide real-time feedback on the accessibility of drugs and devices at the grassroots level. Ultimately, within a shared, open, and recursively iterative research ecosystem, we establish a one-stop expressway from mechanistic discovery to bedside impact.

Amid today's torrent of data and entrenched disciplinary silos, we proudly launch iMetaMed—the flagship journal of the Imeta family. Grounded in open access and transparent peer review, iMetaMed spans clinical practice, translational medicine, public health, global health, health policy, and social medicine, publishing only research that is both high-impact and paradigm-shifting. We hold that complex medical questions can be answered only by dissolving boundaries and integrating diverse perspectives.

iMetaMed is purpose-built to connect and integrate. The scope of submissions is wide-ranging, including but not limited to original research in basic medical sciences, clinical trials, epidemiological studies, breakthroughs in molecular medicine, healthcare technology innovations, and health policy evaluations. We also welcome insightful commentary on topics such as medical ethics, technological risks, and global health crises, providing in-depth analysis and multidisciplinary perspectives. We are committed to ensuring the rapid dissemination of high-quality research through an efficient review process. All content will be open access, supplemented by multilingual abstracts, visual data tools, and support for dissemination via social media.

There are no walls here. Our editorial board unites clinical leaders, public-health experts, policy scholars, and patient advocates—stitching laboratory, clinic, and cabinet into a single, sustainable blueprint for human health.