The University of Palermo participates in the project with two research laboratories. The group of the “Biomedical Image Processing Laboratory” of the Dept. of Physics and Chemistry, carries out research and technological transfer in the field of clinical diagnostic support systems. The research laboratory is equipped with a series of workstations for the implementation and testing of Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence algorithms on biomedical images. Physicists, computer engineers and biologists collaborate in the research laboratory. The research group has developed Expert Systems to support breast cancer diagnosis and to support the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases. The research group has participated in various national projects funded by the National Institute of Nuclear Physics for medical physics applications to support breast cancer diagnosis. Recently the UNIPA partner was the leader of the international project A.I.D.A. in the field of diagnosis of autoimmune diseases through biomedical images of immunofluorescence.

The expertise and know-how acquired by the partner in question bring added value to the project in terms of innovative ICT solutions for the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases. The research topics of the Predige multidimensional data analysis laboratory group of the Dep. of Mathematics and Informatics concern the theoretical and applicative approaches on multidimensional data: Pattern discovery, feature extraction and selection, clustering and classification, machine learning, analysis of semantic web , retinal analysis and tomography. In particular in the field of biomedical signal and image analysis, of machine learning in bioinformatics and of Health Informatics, methods have been developed for the identification of distances by microarray, models for learning from data.

Kore University of Enna [UKE] is an independent private higher education institution. Its legal status was legislated by the Ministry of Education, University and Research, (decree n. 116, 5 May 2005). Currently more than 8000 students are enrolled at Kore.

Kore University offers 21 degree courses in 5 Faculties: Engineering and Architecture, Economics and Law, Human and Social Sciences, Classical, Linguistic and Educational Studies, Medicine and Surgery.

For this reason, the University, through its academic facilities [as well as 18 laboratories spread over 5 research centres], encourages the hosting of highly qualified lecturers, researchers and scholars and international students. UKE pays particular attention to the internationalisation process and collaborative relationships with foreign universities, having also been part of various International research projects. To learn more about the research carried out at UKE visit here.

The involvement of UKE for ITAMA_CAP strengthens the partnership both technologically and scientifically.

The role of UKE in the project involves defining the procedures for adjustment, optimisation, updating and management of databases and software tools. Furthermore, UKE will also be responsible for the analysis of the data collected, where their expertise in data collection and analysis will prove to be extremely useful for the project.

The Ministry for Health (MFH) ensures that all citizens have access to the necessary health care services and ensures that these are delivered in a cost-effective manner and at the same time meet the required quality standards of care. MFH is responsible to:

• develop and enact health legislation
• implement strategies to promote and improve public health
• issue standards for public health
• license health care service and diagnostic facilities
• regulate health care professions
• ensure that the regulatory functions emanating from law are properly discharged.

The Ministry for Health strategically leads, supports and coordinates a sustainable & responsive health system, built on competence, quality and efficiency. Our aim is to sustain an accessible and integrated health system offering quality services to meet tomorrow’s needs. This will help citizens lead a healthier and longer life.