iHEALTH Researchers Secure Avanza UC 2025 Funding

Five projects led by researchers from the iHEALTH Millennium Institute were selected in the Research and Creation Contest “Avanza UC 2025”, an initiative that funds bold, high-risk and high-impact projects in strategic areas for Chile. The funding, which reaches up to 35 million pesos per project, will support research using artificial intelligence to address critical challenges in cardiac diagnostics, critical patient monitoring, and hospital-acquired infection prevention.

Among the awarded initiatives is "AI-enhanced 3D Cardiac Cine MRI at 0.55T for Affordable and Efficient Congenital Heart Disease Assessment", led by Dr. Claudia Prieto (School of Engineering), Director of iHEALTH, and Dr. René Botnar (Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering, IIBM), a principal investigator at the institute. The project aims to develop a 3D cardiac magnetic resonance imaging system enhanced with artificial intelligence on low-field (0.55T) equipment, to make the diagnosis of congenital heart disease—which affects 10 in every 1,000 births worldwide—more accessible.

Another funded project is "Unmasking Silent Heart Damage in Children: An AI-Driven Digital Twin for Early Diagnosis from Standard Echocardiography", led by Dr. Francisco Sahli (School of Engineering – IIBM), a principal investigator at iHEALTH, and Dr. Guillermo Larios, a professor at the School of Medicine. The research proposes creating a pediatric cardiac “digital twin” that, using AI, generates 3D + time reconstructions from standard 2D echocardiograms, enabling the detection of silent heart damage in children with obesity—a condition where Chile has one of the highest rates globally.

In the field of intensive care, Dr. Eduardo Kattan (School of Medicine) and Dr. Domingo Mery (School of Engineering), a principal investigator at iHEALTH, lead "CAPPY: Device for the identification of venous congestion through automated analysis of colorimetric changes in capillary refill time in critical patients". The project will develop a prototype that automatically analyzes videos of capillary refill time to detect venous congestion in patients with sepsis, a condition with a mortality rate close to 40%.

The other selected projects include "Robust and interpretable data-driven learning of dynamical systems for the discovery of regulation mechanisms for biological signals", led by Dr. Carlos Sing Long (Institute for Mathematical and Computational Engineering) and Dr. Marcelo Andia (School of Medicine), Director of iHEALTH; and "Uncovering the ICU Microbiome to Design Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Hospital-Acquired Infections", led by Dr. Gerardo Cárcamo (Faculty of Biological Sciences) and Dr. Jaime Retamal (School of Medicine), an associate investigator at the institute.

These awards reflect the ability of iHEALTH researchers to generate interdisciplinary, cutting-edge research that addresses real health problems in Chile. Each project combines clinical expertise with advanced technological development, creating solutions with potential impact both nationally and globally.

The Avanza UC 2025 contest received applications between September and November 2025, evaluating projects based on their boldness, impact potential, and alignment with national strategic challenges. The selected projects will begin in March 2026 and will have up to one year of execution.