«How many of you know someone who died of a hospital infection?» - this was the question posed by Manuela Oliveira, researcher of the Population Genetics and Evolution Group, in the development of the PathoWatch.med project. It was with this project that the researcher participated in the second edition of the ASA - ANJE Startup Accelerator, having been one of the ten finalists, who received the support of the RESOLVE Program (a program to ignite the transfer of knowledge in the area of Health) and during August it will create a services company, coordinated by her.
«In the hospital settings there are numerous pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi) that can trigger serious infections. Every day in our country, there are 12 deaths associated with infections acquired in a hospital context, seven times higher than the number of victims of road accidents», says Manuela Oliveira. The average costs associated with this type of infection, according to the researcher, are around €35,000 / patient. «In addition to the heavy economic cost, hospital infections contribute to the feeling of insecurity in users, since they give visibility to a vulnerability of the health system».
To address this serious public health problem, this project, Manuela Oliveira says, «aims not only to carry out periodic monitoring of pathogens that colonize different hospital surfaces (e.g. door knobs, bed headboards, surgical boards, etc.), but also adding information to these monitoring reports describing a set of preventive measures to reduce the contamination of these surfaces». The researcher also proposes to develop an interactive platform that will allow the visualization of the results and microbiological containment measures. At the end of a year of monitoring, hospitals that are participating in the scheme will be awarded a “Blue Flag” which certifies the microbiological safety of the hospital.
In the second edition of the ASA - ANJE Startup Accelerator, the project participated for three months in workshops, mentoring, and consulting sessions and an Investment Day attended by Adelino Costa Matos (President of ANJE), Mário Ferreira (CEO of Douro Azul) and André Matias (Startup Team Albuquerque and Associates). PathoWatch.med is one of ten finalists to participate in the Born Global initiative, which spans missions in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, and Berlin. These actions are part of the RESTARTUP project, which is under the responsibility of ANJE - Associação Nacional de Jovens Empresários (National Association of Young Entrepreneurs), developed in partnership with the University of Porto and TecMinho, financed by Portugal 2020, under the Northern 2020 Operational Program, with funds from the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund (www.restartup.pt). Additionally, the project is automatically entered for the semifinal of the 19th Young Entrepreneur Award.
This project is also being supported by the RESOLVE program (www.resolve-health.pt), a program to encourage the transfer of knowledge in the area of Health, which aims to support seed projects with tools designed to fill flaws both in technology and market strategy. RESOLVE supports PathoWatch.med through a set of 7 “Tools” (RESOLVE Toolbox) to promote technology transfer implemented over 12 months, with mentoring from the RESOLVE team.
Under this program, the proof of concept of the Pathowatch.med project is being financed in collaboration with the Hospital de Braga (www.hospitaldebraga.pt) and will start on June 24th. It should be noted that the Hospital de Braga is considered the best hospital in the country, belongs to the State and is under the administration of the private group José de Mello Saúde (data from the National Health Assessment System, SINAS).