IGEA (Azione 1.1.3b.)
- Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro
- Università degli Studi di Cagliari
- Università degli Studi di Messina
- Università degli Studi di Palermo
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
- Fondazione Rome Technopole
- IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed S.p.A.
- TECNO-BIOS S.r.l.
- Istituto Nazionale Tumori “Fondazione G. Pascale”
- Consorzio Sannio Tech
- Consorzio per Valutazioni Biologiche e Farmacologiche
- Consorzio Italbiotec
- Istituto Oncologico del Mediterraneo S.p.A.
- BI-REX – Big Data Innovation & Research Excellence
Abstract
Within the framework of the project "The Southern Hub for Personalized Approaches in Gender Medicine" (IGEA-113b), Work Package 1, "Development of Strategic Infrastructure Networks for the Distributed Biotech and Precision Medicine Hub – POLOIGEAWP1", the activities carried out at the Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia" (DGFI) of the University of Catania, under the scientific supervision of Professor Martina Barchitta, are aimed at developing an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based digital decision support platform for risk stratification, personalized prevention, and clinical-epidemiological decision support in women's health, with particular emphasis on hereditary cancer risk during the reproductive years.
The platform will be designed to integrate genomic, clinical, behavioral, and environmental data in order to support the development of predictive models for identifying individual risk profiles and enabling personalized prevention, surveillance, and genetic counseling pathways.
The use of real-world cohorts of pregnant women will allow investigation of the combined contribution of genetic, clinical, environmental, and lifestyle factors to individual risk assessment, thereby improving the understanding of the determinants of women's health and informing strategies for both primary and secondary prevention.
The digital infrastructure will be designed to ensure interoperability with regional healthcare information systems and national data repositories, enabling the integration of health data and the application of AI-based algorithms to support the identification of women who may be eligible for genetic counseling pathways and personalized surveillance programs. Risk stratification algorithms will be evaluated against existing Clinical Care Pathways (PDTAs, Percorsi Diagnostico-Terapeutici Assistenziali) to assess their consistency, operational value, and potential applications in clinical epidemiology and public health.
The platform may include interactive dashboards for epidemiologists, geneticists, and healthcare professionals, clinical decision support tools, automated notification systems, and modules for sharing information with patients. In addition, interoperable interfaces based on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), compatible with electronic health record (EHR) systems and cloud-based infrastructures, will be developed in compliance with security, data protection, and regulatory requirements.
The activities carried out by DGFI are fully aligned with the objectives of the IGEA-113b Project, which aims to establish a network of infrastructures and expertise for Precision Medicine and Gender Medicine in Southern Italy, thereby strengthening biomedical research, innovation, and technology transfer in support of the healthcare system.
