FiDiPro - the Finland Distinguished Professor Programme - led and financed by the Academy of Finland and Tekes enables distinguished researchers to work and team up with Finnish academic researchers.
FIMM's first FiDiPro Fellow, Dr. Peter Horvath, recruited to the project by Tekes funding, will further strengthen the institutes FiDiPro network with three FiDiPro Professors project currently running. The aim of FIMM's newest FiDiPro Fellow project "Next generation image analysis solutions - towards image-based diagnostics" collaborating with several company partners is to find computational solutions to challenges in biomedical imaging. The project officially started with the first steering group meeting, today on January 29th. Dr. Horvath comes from ETH Zürich in Switzerland and recently started a research group in the Hungarian Academia of Sciences. He has several years of experience in image processing, machine learning, and high content screening.
"Currently, biomedical imaging is still largely based on subjective interpretation by human observers. Thus the automation of image analysis for pathology, cytology and hematology is a significant growth area for future clinical diagnostics" says FIMM's Research Director Dr. Johan Lundin who is hosting Dr. Horvath. "Novel analysis techniques, which are well beyond the state-of-the-art, are needed to derive meaningful image data from tissues and novel patient-derived cell models to enable matching for personalized medicine purposes", says Dr. Päivi Ostling.
"The expertise of Dr. Horvath in biomedical image analysis will be combined with the local academic knowhow of high content imaging of cells and tissues as well as knowledge and needs from the participating health and informatics companies", explains Dr. Vilja Pietiäinen (FiDiPro project manager) and Dr. Carina von Schantz-Fant. The involved partners represent the whole innovation chain, including academic research groups and core facilities affiliated with the University of Helsinki (High Throughput Biomedicine Unit, FIMM; Biomedicum Imaging Unit, UH), and company partners Quva Oy, Bifarma Ltd. from Hungary, Oncos Therapeutics Ltd, Salwe Ltd. (Orion Diagnostica), Labcyte, Pharmatest Services Oy, and HUSLAB.