UP researchers receive two million euros to fight Alzheimer disease

iLoF - Intelligent Lab on Fiber, a spin-off born in INESC TEC and now incubated at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto has just been granted 2 million euros worth of support in the framework of Wild Card, an EIT Health Flush Programme, the world's largest consortium in the health area for disruptive projects in this field.

The research will target the development of tools in the AI and phototonics areas, which have high potential for the Alzheimer disease.

"Approximately every 3 seconds someone somewhere in the world as a result of Alzheimer disease. An though there are 50 million people in the entire world affected by this disease, there has been no new treatment approved in the past 14 years and there are over 400 failed clinical studies. Also, the number of people affected by Alzheimer is expected to triple by 2050. We want to change this paradigm, by using AI and phototonics", explains Joana Paiva, researcher at INESC TEC and one of the founders of iLoF.

The spin-off was founded by researchers Mehak Mumtaz (COO), of Oxford University, by Joana Paiva (CTO), Luís Valente (CEO) and Paula Sampaio (CSO), all of them researchers of the University of Porto.