
The 69th National Congress of the Portuguese Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (SPORL-CCP) took place between May 5th and 8th, 2022, in the city of Porto. The principal investigators of COVOICE-19, Prof. Dr. José Barata (UNINOVA) and Prof. Dr. Clara Capucho (Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental - CHLO) presented the project before the society.

<img src="barata-1.png" alt="Professor Barata and Dr. Clara Capucho Present the COVOICE-19 Project" width=600 height=400 />

Clara Capucho, an otorhinolaryngologist researcher and head of the CHLO's Speech Unit, gave an interview to the newspaper justNews, where she stated that one of the most common pathologies observed in patients diagnosed with Covid-19 was voice alterations (dysphonia). Thus, the COVOICE-19 project was created, with a multidisciplinary team (including otorhinolaryngologists, infectious disease specialists, radiologists, pulmonologists, speech therapists, computer engineering and artificial intelligence specialists), with the objective of studying the impact of the Covid-19 disease on the patient's respiratory system and voice.

<img src="clara-capucho-journal.png" alt="Dra. Clara Capucho in the justNews newspaper" width=400 height=400 />

The interview can be found in **justNews - Public Hospital (edition May 6, 2022)**, or at [www.justnews.pt](https://justnews.pt/).

COVOICE-19 at the 69th National Congress SPORL-CCP


<img src="colab-projects.png" alt="Projects presented to SGS" width=600 height=440 />

**On the 2nd of November 2021, [UNINOVA](https://www.uninova.pt/) welcomed [SGS Portugal](https://www.sgs.pt/) at the research centre to kick-off the collaboration within the scope of the DataCoLAB.** The DataCoLAB has been recognized as a collaborative laboratory by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for a renewable period of five years following an evaluation by international experts. It is composed of multiple parties, being led by SGS and copromoted by FI Group Portugal and Smartwatt. From the research side it counts with the participation of UNINOVA-CTS, Universidade do Porto, Universidade do Minho and Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo.

The main goal of DataCoLAB is to create and promote research and development activities aimed at intersectoral innovation with multidisciplinary stakeholders, using data-driven solutions to redefine the way we produce, consume and live.

In this context, the UNINOVA team presented some of the developed data-driven solutions encompassing three target sectors: manufacturing, healthcare and agrifood. 

Regarding healthcare, UNINOVA showcased the centre’s expertise involved in COVOICE-19 project, which combines data science and Artificial Intelligence to develop a non-invasive diagnosis support system for COVID-19 patients using voice recordings.

COVOICE-19 is Presented to SGS Portugal for a Possible Colaboration


<img src="uninova-building.jpg" alt="Uninova building" width=600 height=400 />

**José Barata Oliveira, [UNINOVA](https://www.uninova.pt/) researcher and professor at the [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering](https://www.dee.fct.unl.pt/) of NOVA School of Science and Technology, leads one of the selected projects in the scope of the contest ["AI 4 COVID-19", promoted by the Foundation for Science and Technology](https://www.fct.pt/noticias/index.phtml.pt?id=595&/2020/10/Concurso_AI_4_COVID-19_selecionou_12_projetos).**

The project "**COVOICE-19 - A Tool to Support the Identification, Diagnosis and Prognosis of the COVID-19 Disease using Artificial Intelligence and Data Science**" was one of the 12 projects recommended for funding in the scope of the Call for R&D Projects "AI 4 COVID-19: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration to strengthen the fight against COVID 19 and future pandemics - 2020". The results of the ongoing research will help find solutions to significantly improve the delivery of services to citizens and businesses, as well as decision-making processes.

The project led by UNINOVA/CTS also involves Ricardo Peres (co-principal investigator) and will be done in cooperation with the Egas Moniz Hospital (Clara Capucho - Speech Unit and Kamal Mansinho and Jaime Nina - Infectology Unit). Clara Capucho and Jaime Nina are also professors at the Medical School of the New University of Lisbon.

The main goal of the COVOICE-19 project is the development of models based on Artificial Intelligence, more precisely Machine Learning, to support activities in the clinical contexts of rapid diagnosis and prognosis in suspected or detected cases of COVID-19, respectively. These activities will be performed based on a set of data collected and aggregated from different sources during the course of the project, taking advantage of the expertise and close collaboration with the team at Egas Moniz Hospital. Additionally, applications will be implemented to operationalize the models developed in order to make them easily usable by both the general population and health system professionals, without the need for prior knowledge in the area of machine learning.

The AI 4 COVID-19 contest is framed within the National Initiative Digital Competencies e.2030, Portugal INCoDe.2030, Axis 5 - Research, and corresponds to the 3rd edition of the program's annual calls for research in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration.

**Source:** [FCT NOVA usa inteligência artificial na luta contra o COVID-19](https://www.fct.unl.pt/noticias/2020/11/fct-nova-usa-inteligencia-artificial-na-luta-contra-o-covid-19)

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