PRR Project

Summary

The prospective employee is expected to work as an Associate Professor in the field of Bioengineering. The employee is expected to work in research and teaching activities at the Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences (MEDCIDS) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. In particular, the employee is expected to work on data sciences computing, cell biology and drug delivery in silico for personalized medicine and therapeutic innovation. The employee is expected to have knowledge and experience in doing research and teaching in these fields. In addition, the employee is expected to have a biomedical background and knowledge and experience in data sciences, therapeutics and innovation.MEDCIDS has a relevant research and teaching track record in the Bioengineering field. The Bioengineering division at MEDCIDS is inherently interdisciplinary, amalgamating research endeavours spanning biomedical and clinical data. Within bioengineering, we fuse disciplines such as biomedicine and bioinformatics with physical and life sciences, leveraging mathematical and computational sciences in tandem with pharmacology. This convergence empowers us to grasp the intricacies of biological systems´ functionality and devise innovative solutions to pivotal challenges in medicine and biology. This is indicated by the number of studies published by its members and by the participation in technology transfer and services provision activities (involving public, private, national or international entities – e.g., participation in health technology assessment reports of the Portuguese drug agency or in economic evaluation studies hired by pharmaceutical companies) or for having the CHAIR in Onco-Innovation. This research activity is done in close connection with the Associate Laboratory RISE (Health Research Network). In fact, Thematic Line 4 of RISE is fully dedicated to health policy and digital transformation, having as its scope “development and assessment of methods and technologies to improve biomedical sciences and healthcare”. Also, this research activity is done closely with Line 2 of RISE, dedicated to Clinical and Translational Research Oncology.MEDCIDS has also displayed a vibrant teaching activity in the health technology field, with contents on economic evaluation studies, decision-making, and guidelines. Understanding both molecular and functional paradigms within individuals is the key to enhancing treatment efficacy and providing more personalized medicine. Many of the projects in these areas are part of the Doctoral Program in Clinical and Health Services Research and of the Master’s Degree in Evidence and Decision in Health. In addition, these contents are taught in the Health Data Sciences Doctoral Programme (all these programmes are hosted at MEDCIDS). Topics on Bioengineering will also be of key importance to the BSc course in Digital Health in Biomedical Innovation, particularly its branch of Biomedical Research and Bioinformatics, or Clinical Research and Innovation Management in Health. Of note, several of the partners of this BSc course correspond to public or private entities with whom MEDCIDS has collaborated in technology transfer or service provision activities. Given this background and the need to further develop research and teaching activities in this field, hiring an Associate Professor in the Bioengineering area is necessary.