Vicomtech

Founded in 2001, Vicomtech is a private, non-profit applied research organization based in San Sebastián and Bilbao, Spain. Its mission is to address the research, development, and innovation needs of companies and institutions, enhancing their competitiveness and tackling global economic and social challenges. With expertise in artificial intelligence, computer vision, data analytics, interactive digital media, and language technologies, Vicomtech promotes knowledge generation and technology transfer, developing prototypes and facilitating new business lines in collaboration with industry. With approximately 300 employees, Vicomtech applies advanced digital technologies to solve challenges across various fields, including the healthcare sector.

The Digital Health and Biomedical Technologies department consists of a team of 40 researchers, focusing on five key areas: Digital Health & Health Living, Predictive & Precision Medicine, Biomedical Devices & Simulation, Image Analysis & Deep Learning, and Big Data in Biomedicine. This project aligns with the activities and roadmap of the Image Analysis & Deep Learning research line, which focuses on developing and applying advanced deep learning techniques to analyze medical images for various clinical and research applications. It also contributes to precision medicine through its focus on cancer.

The department is a key player in European collaborative research initiatives, actively participating in EU-funded projects. It coordinates the Horizon Europe Project CARAMEL (CArdiovascular Risk Assessment via multimodal data analysis enabling personalized prevention strategies targeting MEnopausaL women; GA: 101156210) and participates in CVDLink Project (AI-based cardiovascular disease modeling; GA 101137278), both with an important component of medical image analysis and AI model development in cardiovascular disease prevention and management.

Closely related to EUCAIM, Vicomtech has a significant participation in LUCIA Project (Understanding Lung Cancer-Related Risk Factors and Their Impact; HEU program; GA: 101096473), part of the Cancer Mission cluster, where it leads the digital platform development and AI modelling, including image analysis and other data sources. LUCIA focuses on creating an AI-based toolbox to assess individual lung cancer risk by analyzing external, personal, and biological factors. Vicomtech is responsible for developing software ecosystems, data analytics, and application development, leading medical image analysis tasks for the prevention and early detection of lung cancer.

Role of institution in the project

Within the WP7, Vicomtech will develop and validate image-based AI tools for lung cancer detection and follow-up in an initiative called CONTACT. The project aims to enhance lung nodule characterization and risk analysis using AI models that process CT and LDCT scans. These models will detect, segment, characterize, and track lung nodules by analyzing data from multiple clinical centers across Europe, including data from the LUCIA project, NLST EUCAIM data (CHAIMELION and INCISIVE datasets), and other publicly available resources.

Dr. Iván Macía

Dr. Macía holds degrees in Industrial Engineering (2002) and Industrial Automation and Electronics Engineering (2003) from the University of Navarra, along with a PhD in Computer Science and AI (2012) from UPV-EHU, specializing in vascular image analysis with AI. Since 2003, he has been part of Vicomtech, focusing on digital health technologies. In 2014, he became the head of the Digital Health and Biomedical Technologies Department, leading a team of over 40 researchers across five areas. He also leads the Digital Health research group at Biogipuzkoa at the Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute and is a member of UPV-EHU’s Computational Intelligence Group. With 20 years of R&I experience, he has contributed to AI-driven diagnostic systems and biomedical data analytics, authoring over 50 scientific publications. At Vicomtech, he coordinated the H2020 DESIREE project (GA: 690238) on breast cancer decision support systems. Currently, he is the Principal Investigator for LUCIA Project (Understanding Lung Cancer-related Risk Factors; HEU program; GA: 101096473) within the Cancer Mission and the coordinator of CARAMEL Project (CArdiovascular Risk Assessment via multimodal data analysis for menopausal women; HEU program; GA: 101156210).

Dr. Karen López-Linares

Dr. Karen López-Linares studied Telecommunications Engineering (2006–2012) at the University of the Basque Country, completing her final project with the WiCa-iMinds-Ghent research group (Belgium). In 2014, she obtained a master’s in biomedical engineering from the same university. She earned her PhD with international distinction from Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona) in 2019. During her doctoral studies, she conducted a research stay at Brigham and Women's Hospital–Harvard University (Boston, USA), specializing in deep learning for medical image analysis. Since 2014, she has been part of the Digital Health and Biomedical Technologies team at Vicomtech, where she is now head of Image Analysis and AI. She leads national projects and is Vicomtech's leader in international projects, such as CVDLINK (AI-based cardiovascular disease modeling; GA 101137278), or image analysis tasks within LUCIA (Lung cancer risk analysis; GA 101096473). She is a member of the eHealth group at Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute and, since 2022, a collaborator in the AI Master’s program at the International University of Valencia. She has published extensively in Artificial Intelligence and serves as a reviewer for high-impact journals.

Javier Bóbeda

Javier Bóbeda studied the Electronics of Telecommunications Engineering Bachelor’s at TECNUN (San Sebastián, 2011-2015). After an Erasmus exchange in Finland and an internship at BCBL (Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language), he became interested in the application of engineering in healthcare, which led him to take a Master's Degree in Computational Biomedical Engineering at Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, 2016-2017). His Master's thesis consisted on the development of a Machine Learning model that classified intracranial electroencephalogram signals for patients with focal epilepsy. During 2017 and 2018 he worked at QMENTA, a start-up that created neuroimaging solutions in the cloud to help investigate different brain diseases. Between 2019 and 2021, he dedicated himself to provide technical support and advice to Google customers who used the artificial intelligence and big data products of Google Cloud Platform. He is currently working as a Researcher in the Digital Health and Biomedical Applications department at Vicomtech. He is part of the medical imaging research line, where he develops and leads projects related to the quantification and characterization of multiple diseases, using AI methods and different medical imaging modalities. He also works on improving the team's agility to develop robust models that comply with current regulations.

Ion Gorriti

Ion Gorriti holds a Law degree from the University of the Basque Country and is specialized in Project Management Cycle (PMC). Throughout his career, he has focused on managing international cooperation projects, particularly those with European funding. His expertise lies in development cooperation, international humanitarian aid, and Research and Innovation (R&I). Since 2007, Ion has primarily worked on European R&I projects both in private consultancy companies and in the public sector in a wide number of domains, including research and innovation policy, digital transformation, health and biotechnology, and agriculture, in projects funded by various European R&I programs, including FP7, H2020, Horizon Europe, European Territorial Cooperation programs, and LIFE+. Since 2021, he has been part of the International Projects Department of VICOMTECH, engaged in the involvement of the centre's research departments in projects funded by the Horizon Europe programme.

Ines Hanrion

Ines Hanrion holds a degree in Biomedical Sciences from the International University of Catalunya (UIC) in Barcelona (2018-2022) and has gained research experience in Pharmacology through her involvement in a breast cancer research project during her undergraduate internship. She also holds a Postgraduate degree in Pharmaceutical Industry and Biotechnology at the University of Barcelona (2022-2023). To complement her technical background, she took a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at the University of La Rioja (UNIR) and an advanced course in Project Management (2023-2024). Currently, Ines works in Vicomtech’s International Projects department, managing Horizon Europe-funded projects in digital health and biomedical technologies. She oversees EU projects like CARAMEL (CArdiovascular Risk Assessment via multimodal data analysis enabling personalized prevention strategies targeting MEnopausaL women, GA: 101156210), where Vicomtech is the coordinator.

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