Cross-project collaboration

10.03.2025.11.03.2025.

Advancing Medical Education: Collaboration with DECODE on Global Digital Health Guidelines

A groundbreaking initiative led by a group of 211 international experts from 79 countries has resulted in the publication of new guidelines aimed at integrating digital health competencies into medical education worldwide. These guidelines, titled Digital Health Competencies in Medical Education (DECODE), were published in JAMA Network Open and provide a comprehensive framework to help medical institutions prepare future doctors for the digital transformation of healthcare. Among the contributors to this landmark study were experts from the University of Montenegro’s Faculty of Medicine, highlighting the country’s role in shaping the future of medical education. AI-AGE team members participated in this effort, with one of its team members co-authoring the study.

The DECODE guidelines focus on four key areas: professionalism in digital health, patient and population digital health, health information systems, and health data science. These competencies are already being adopted in various countries, where they have influenced new learning outcomes for medical graduates. To support their implementation, an online event will be held on March 14, 2025, offering insights into how institutions can integrate these competencies into their curricula. As the Faculty of Medicine aligns its education strategy with DECODE, this initiative represents a significant step toward equipping future healthcare professionals with the necessary skills to navigate the evolving landscape of digital healthcare.

Click on image to view the paper at the JAMA Network Open website

07.03.2025.

N-Ways to GPU Programming Bootcamp

The NVIDIA, EuroCC Austria, EuroCC Czechia, EuroCC Germany, EuroCC Montenegro, EuroCC Poland, EuroCC Sweden, and EuroCC Slovenia invite you to the N-Ways to GPU Programming Bootcamp, which will be held online from 8-9 April 2025. The application deadline is 10 March 2025 (this announcement adopted from NCC Montenegro, EuroCC2).

The N-Ways to GPU Programming Bootcamp offers a comprehensive introduction to GPU programming. Participants will learn about various methods for adapting scientific applications to GPUs using NVIDIA CUDA, OpenACC, OpenMP offloading, and standard programming languages.

Throughout the bootcamp, attendees will work alongside teaching assistants to explore multiple GPU programming models. They will also learn how to analyze GPU-enabled applications using NVIDIA Nsight Systems. The program includes hands-on activities that allow participants to apply their newly acquired skills to real-world problems.

Course details

Content level Content level: Basic = (100%) + Intermediate = (0%) + Advanced = (0%)
Entry level : Basic – no prior GPU programming knowledge is required
Prerequisites : Basic experience with C/C++ or Fortran
Target audience : Course for academia, industry, and public administration.
Course format : This course will be delivered as a LIVE ONLINE COURSE (using Zoom), All communication will be done through Zoom, Slack, and email.

Registration form and more info : [link]

23.02.2025.23.02.2025.

AI-AGE Shines at the 29th IT 2025 Conference on Information Technology

We are thrilled to share highlights from the successful presentation of the AI-AGE project at the 29th IT Conference, held from February 19-22, 2025, in Žabljak, Montenegro. Our team had the opportunity to present the project’s advancements and engage with a vibrant community of experts and stakeholders over three dynamic days.

Wednesday – Project Results Fair:
The AI-AGE team showcased the project’s core achievements during the Project Trade Fair and Dissemination of Results. Attendees explored how AI-AGE is pushing the boundaries in identifying novel, non-invasive biomarkers of aging using artificial intelligence. The session allowed for meaningful exchanges with other project teams and stakeholders, sparking discussions on future collaborations and applications of AI in medicine.

AI-AGE project was presented at the IT 2025 spectial session dedicated to dissemination of project results

Thursday – Expert Presentation:
Mr. Dejan Babić delivered an insightful presentation detailing his research and contributions to the AI-AGE project. His talk covered the technical intricacies of using deep learning for retinal image segmentation, a key part of AI-AGE’s mission to discover aging biomarkers. The session attracted considerable interest, leading to valuable feedback and new ideas for further research.

Mr. Dejan Babic giving a presentation on AI-AGE at the EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE workshop for young researchers

Friday – Panel Discussion:
Prof. Nataša Popović joined the distinguished panel “ICT Future from the Present”, where she shared perspectives on the evolving role of AI in healthcare and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Her insights emphasized how projects like AI-AGE are not only advancing scientific research but also paving the way for practical healthcare solutions.

prof. Natasa Popovic taking part in the panel discussion on the last day of the conference

We are grateful to the organizers of IT 2025 for providing a platform to share our work and to all participants for their engaging questions and support. The AI-AGE team looks forward to building on this momentum as we continue our mission to revolutionize aging research.

17.01.2025.21.01.2025.

Celebrating the Conclusion of the RECOGNISED Project: A Milestone in Diabetes and Dementia Research

After four impactful years of collaboration, the RECOGNISED project, funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, has successfully reached its conclusion. This initiative brought together 21 partners from nine countries, including academic institutions, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), patient advocacy groups, and international research infrastructures like EATRIS, showcasing the power of multidisciplinary collaboration. Learn more about RECOGNISED project at [link]

Collaborating institutions in RECOGNISED project

Key Achievements:

Innovative Research: The project explored the use of the retina as a “window to the brain,” focusing on how retinal changes can serve as biomarkers for cognitive decline and dementia in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Groundbreaking Findings: Researchers conducted experimental and clinical studies, uncovering common molecular mechanisms between diabetic retinopathy and Alzheimer’s disease.

Global Collaboration: With partners from across Europe, including Montenegro, Spain, Italy, the UK, and the Netherlands, the project fostered a diverse network of experts in diabetes, ophthalmology, and neurology.

The insights gained through RECOGNISED have opened new avenues for early detection and treatment strategies, improving the quality of life for people with type 2 diabetes at risk of cognitive decline.

We extend our gratitude to all the partners and researchers for their dedication and to the European Union for their support through Horizon 2020.

Together, we are advancing the future of healthcare.

30.12.2024.30.12.2024.

HPC/AI Workshop and Student Conference

The University of Donja Gorica hosted the highly anticipated HPC/AI Workshop and Student Conference on Saturday, December 21st. This event served as a key platform to highlight the outcomes of the HPC4S3ME IPA project and the AIFusion training program supported by the Innovation Fund of Montenegro. Both projects were developed within the framework of EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE, with support from the NCC Montenegro team. The events showcased significant advancements in high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) in Montenegro.

AI-AGE team members took part in mentoring students throughout the preparetion for the conference. The conference resulted in a Book of abstracts published on 30 December 2024. Read more at: link.

HPC/AI Workshop and Student Conference took place on 21 December 2024 at the UDG

Over 50 attendees at the conference, mainly students and young researchers

02.12.2024.06.03.2025.

Mobility in technology company in Serbia

During a recent secondment with DunavNET as part of the TRACEWINDU project, mr Dejan Babic and Ivan Jovovic spent a month long studying visit. They engaged in productive discussions with DunavNET’s expert team members. Their visit included trainings and workshop on the AI/ML, IoT and Blockchain. This experience and training contributed to their capacity building and skills development in practical applications and technology driven innovation.

29.11.2024.10.03.2025.

Exciting Collaboration Alert: Advancing AI and Retinal Imaging Research!

We are thrilled to announce a new collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine, Univiersity of Montenegro and Faculty for Information Systems and Technologies at the University of Donja Gorica. This partnership opens the doors for selected researchers from UDG to access UK Biobank data, enabling them to bring their expertise in data analysis and artificial intelligence to the forefront of cutting-edge medical research. Learn more at [link]

New Collaboration Unlocks the Power of AI and Retinal Imaging to Advance Research on Dementia and Cancer

What’s the Goal?
The primary objective of this collaboration is to develop an innovative algorithm that compares microvascular complexity across three groups:

Individuals with colorectal carcinoma
Those with Alzheimer’s disease
A control group of healthy individuals

Why It Matters:
This partnership exemplifies the transformative potential of combining retinal imaging with AI-powered analysis. Together, we are uncovering critical links between diseases and pushing the boundaries of early detection and treatment strategies for complex conditions like dementia and cancer.

A Global Effort:
By merging international resources, state-of-the-art technology, and interdisciplinary expertise, we are taking bold steps toward improving healthcare outcomes for patients worldwide.

Together, we are shaping the future of personalized medicine and driving innovation in healthcare. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting journey!

01.11.2024.21.01.2025.

Advancing Medical Research with UK Biobank and Retinal Biomarkers

The UK Biobank is a world-renowned resource, housing comprehensive health and genetic data from over 500,000 participants. This invaluable platform is revolutionizing medical research by providing researchers access to detailed medical, lifestyle, and imaging data, driving breakthroughs in understanding and treating diseases like cancer, dementia, and other chronic illnesses.

Key Project Highlight:
One of the pivotal research initiatives, “Exploring the Link Between Dementia and Cancer: Retinal Biomarkers as Predictors of Colon Cancer and Dementia”, is uncovering how retinal biomarkers can serve as early predictors for both colorectal carcinoma and Alzheimer’s disease. By analyzing microvascular complexity in retinal fundus images, this project seeks to identify patterns that could enhance early diagnosis and patient care. Learn more at [link]

Inspired by the RECOGNISED Project:
This initiative builds on insights from the EU-funded RECOGNISED project, which explores the connection between retinal health, cognitive dysfunction, and the risk of dementia in individuals with type 2 diabetes. RECOGNISED has demonstrated the immense potential of retinal imaging as a tool to understand and address chronic diseases. More on RECOGNISED project at [link]

Together, these projects exemplify how innovative approaches and global collaboration can transform healthcare by addressing pressing challenges and improving early detection strategies.

Retinal biomarkers are unlocking new possibilities in personalized medicine and preventive care—advancing our fight against complex diseases.

11.10.2024.12.03.2025.

In-house HPC infrastructure update

As planned, our project AI-AGE is advancing high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure to support AI-driven research on biomarkers of aging in medical applications. This initiative will empower our team with cutting-edge resources, allowing us to enhance our capacity for data analysis and predictive modeling. To meet the demands of sophisticated AI computations, with the support of AI-AGE, we are upgrading our existing HPC setup with a powerful computing node. This new addition includes a rack computing node equipped with a 48 CPU cores with 128GB RAM, NVIDIA L40 48GB GPUs, and 2x480GB internal SSDs. In addition, the project supported NAS storage of 24TB (multiple disks with RAID) dedicated for dataset management. This infrastructure enhancement is designed to integrate smoothly with our existing equipment, augmenting both our computational and storage capabilities while providing significant value for our investment.

New computing infrastructure supported by the AI-AGE project as planned

AI-AGE project, supported by the Ministry of education, science and innovation, is implemendet through collaboration between Faculty for information systems and technologies at Uiversity of Donja Gorica, and Faculty of medicine at University of Montenegro. The in-house HPC infrastructure is a result of cross-project collaboration with HPC4S3ME project (IPA programme) and both of these project are done with the support from EUROCC NCC Montenegro. The main goal for the in-house lab is for researchers to gain a hands on experience with physical equipment a their disposal, while for larger computing tasks, we will apply for computing time on some of the EU supercomputers.