IN obtains a €500,000 grant from an AVI innovation call

15 de septiembre de 2023

The Instituto de Neurociencias (IN), with the assistance of its Innovation Office (IN.Pulse), recently secured €500,000 in funding for an innovation project led by the CSIC researchers María Domínguez and Roberto Santoro, in collaboration with the Instituto Tecnológico de Informática (ITI), the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (INCLIVA) and with the support from other IN principal investigators of the Scientific Programme “Genetics and Epigenetics Basis of Individuality and Ageing”. This funding has been granted by the Agencia Valenciana de Innovación (AVI) and its "Valorisation and transfer of research results to companies” program (Valorización, Linea 1). This program aims to transform research results into products, services or technologies that can be incorporated by companies.

The funded innovation project "FrAIlty. Valorization of an automated AI-based platform to accelerate frailty marker and drug discovery - INNVA1/2023/25” has a specific focus on developing Artificial Intelligence and robotics for the creation of a screening platform. This platform aims to expedite the identification and validation of biomarkers, drugs, and genes related to aging and frailty states. Leveraging the preclinical model (the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster), automated video tracking, and artificial intelligence (AI), the platform will facilitate efficient and cost-effective longitudinal studies enabling detection of pre- and frailty or accelerated ageing. 

The FrAIlty project builds upon a previous innovation initiative funded by IN.Pulse with €30,000 from AVI, for the engineering and prototyping of a patented robot flyGear (WO/2022/090589), which is posited for future commercialization. The current AVI project will focus on developing AI algorithms to expand the robot's applications in the field of aging, moving beyond its initial use in larval monitoring studies. 

This is the largest innovation project funded so far at the Instituto de Neurociencias, and a success case of IN.Pulse, whose mission is to help materialize IN’s innovation projects.