In a collaboration that seeks to significantly advance health care, Empowered Startups has facilitated a research agreement between the University of Beira Interior (UBI) and accomplished entrepreneur John Chen. The innovative project aims to utilize Artificial Intelligence to improve the state-of-the-art in Medical Diagnostic Imaging through a progressive series of research on musculoskeletal injuries and will be carried out at UBI’s start-up incubator, UBI Medical. Chen will work with UBI Professors Miguel Castelo Branco, Faculty of Medicine, and Hugo Proença, Faculty of Engineering, as well as Dina Pereira, Executive Manager of UBI Medical, on the project, which intends to increase the speed and accuracy with which the diagnoses of injuries occur. This, in turn, will allow doctors to prescribe the correct course of action more efficiently, resulting in better patient care and outcomes.
“Another super exciting adventure is going to start with Empowered Startups, John Chen, and UBI. Today we signed a research contract at UBI Medical, the incubator of University of Beira Interior, for developing a joint project using artificial intelligence, medical data and imaging to detect and monitor musculoskeletal injuries,” shared Pereira following an enthusiastic meeting with Chen and her UBI colleagues. “The day ended with high expectations on another very important set of initiatives to boost human health that we will co-create. Together we make innovation and improve quality of life.”
Proven Record of Success
A graduate of Yale University, Chen enters this collaborative endeavor with an exceptional track record of success in multiple domains. As an investment professional, he was responsible for several nine-figure acquisitions of established technology businesses in both public and private markets. In addition to being hired by Google to consult in the areas of business operations and strategy, he previously co-founded a successful mobile advertising company that expanded to three continents before being purchased in 2013 by Twitter (now X) for $350 million, a negotiation that was led by Chen.
HQA Visa Program Continues to Deliver
Chen is the latest in what has been a steady stream of transnational entrepreneurs signing research agreements with Portuguese universities and polytechnics this year as the result of the HQA Visa Program. UBI is the fifth partner institution in Empowered Startups’ growing network to announce an innovative R&D project over the past three months, a span that has seen nine such projects initiated. Those numbers are set to increase in the coming weeks with at least five more announcements expected across four institutions.
To date, Empowered Startups has delivered more than 75 transnational entrepreneurs to Portugal through its HQA Visa Program, resulting in over €4 million of direct investment to the country. The only government-endorsed delivery partner of the HQA Visa Program, Empowered Startups is committed to facilitating at least 25 projects and high potential founders to each of 10 Portuguese universities and polytechnics in the span of 36 months.
