Successful Symposium: HPC and AI Driven Innovation in Healthcare

High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are rapidly transforming the landscape of healthcare — moving far beyond research prototypes into solutions that can shape clinical practice and improve patient outcomes. This transition from strategy to real-world impact was the focus of the recent EuroCC2 initiative “Symposium: HPC and AI Driven Innovation in Healthcare”. AI-AGE team participated in organization, coordination, and presentations at this event.

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The Vision: Bridging Strategy and Clinical Practice

The event was organized in cross-collaboration with EuroCC2 & EuroCC4SEE
AI-AGE project was presented and further collaboration with EuroCC3 was discussed

Healthcare is today generating vast volumes of data — from medical imaging to electronic health records, genomics, wearable sensors and beyond. HPC provides the computational power needed to process and analyse this data at scale, while AI techniques such as deep learning unlock patterns that are invisible to traditional analysis methods. Together, HPC and AI form a powerful synergy for healthcare innovation:

  • Accelerated diagnostics: AI models trained on large annotated datasets can assist clinicians by accurately identifying disease signs in imaging and other modalities.
  • Biomarker discovery and precision medicine: High-throughput computing enables the discovery of subtle biological signals indicative of disease progression or treatment response.
  • Predictive and personalised care: HPC-enabled AI workflows can predict patient outcomes and support real-time clinical decision making.
Symposium included presentations of successs stories from the region

This strategic capability — from data to insights to impact — was the core theme explored through EuroCC2 activities in Montenegro and the wider South-Eastern Europe region.

Key Takeaways for Healthcare Innovation

  1. From Research to Clinical Utility
    HPC and AI solutions are no longer confined to laboratories. With appropriate infrastructure, data governance and clinical integration pathways, these technologies are being translated into tools that support healthcare professionals in diagnosis and treatment.
  2. Regional and Cross-Institutional Collaboration
    The EuroCC2 framework — including the National Competence Centre Montenegro — brings together academic institutions, healthcare providers, and technology partners to share resources, expertise, and training. These collaborative ecosystems are essential for building sustainable HPC-AI capacity in healthcare.
  3. Capacity Building and Skills Development
    One of the crucial pillars of impactful HPC and AI adoption is training. Workshops, seminars, and hands-on sessions equip researchers, clinicians, and students with the skills to leverage HPC and AI tools effectively in their domains.
  4. Enabling Infrastructure Access
    Through EuroCC2 and related programmes, researchers and practitioners gain access to European HPC resources — reducing barriers to entry for high-end computing and enabling complex analyses that were previously impractical.

What This Means for Montenegro and Beyond

Montenegro, alongside partner regions across Europe, is building the foundation for a healthcare ecosystem that integrates HPC and AI into everyday clinical workflows. By investing in strategic computing infrastructure, enabling cross-sector collaboration, and fostering technical expertise, the potential to improve patient outcomes, streamline clinical processes, and support data-driven medicine is growing stronger.

The event gathered representatives from Healthcare and IT sectors already involved in research and development of HPC and AI driven solutions for healthcare and medical research. More info at NCC Montenegro site: [link].

Over 20 participants in the Symposium, important discussion of next steps

HPC & AI in Healthcare: From Research to Clinical Practice in Montenegro and SEE

High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are increasingly moving beyond research laboratories into real clinical environments. Across Montenegro and the SEE region, promising AI solutions have been developed for medical image analysis, biomarker detection, and predictive diagnostics. The critical challenge today is ensuring their structured transition from research prototypes to validated, deployable tools within healthcare systems.

Symposium on HPC and AI in Healthcare and Medicine co-organiozed by Ai-AGE

This event addresses precisely that transition. It focuses on how HPC infrastructure, interdisciplinary collaboration, and coordinated ecosystem support can accelerate the integration of AI into everyday clinical practice. Particular attention will be given to available computational capacities, real-life use cases, and pathways toward sustainable deployment.

The event is organized as a joint initiative between NCC Montenegro and NCC Bosnia and Herzegovina, within the broader framework of EuroCC 2 and EuroCC4SEE. It also represents a form of cross-project pollination with the AI-AGE project, demonstrating how research-driven innovation can evolve into applied healthcare solutions through regional cooperation.

AI-AGE will be featured in the presentation session

Researchers, clinicians, innovators, and industry partners are invited to join the discussion, exchange expertise, and contribute to shaping the next steps for HPC- and AI-driven healthcare across Southeast Europe. The event is scheduled for Friday, 13 Feb 2026. Please contact NCC Montenegro for further details.

AI-AGE at IEEE IT2026: Research, Collaboration, and Young Talent

The AI-AGE project will be actively featured at the INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES 2026 (IT 2026), the 30th edition of a long-standing international scientific and professional conference bringing together academia, industry, and the wider innovation ecosystem. The conference taktes place in Zabljak, 24-28 February.

As part of the project presentation session, AI-AGE will showcase its ongoing research on AI-driven biomarkers of ageing, with a particular focus on advanced data analytics, computer vision, and high-performance computing applied to biomedical and health-related domains. This session provides an excellent opportunity to present project objectives, methodologies, and early scientific insights to a broad and interdisciplinary audience.

Click on image to open IT2026 website

In addition to the project presentation, AI-AGE researchers will actively participate in the conference program, contributing to scientific discussions and knowledge exchange across multiple sessions. Importantly, young researchers involved in the AI-AGE project will present a scientific paper, highlighting the project’s strong commitment to capacity building, early-stage researcher development, and excellence in applied AI research.

AI-AGE Dataset Now Available on Zenodo

In line with the AI-AGE project’s commitment to open science and transparency, the dataset associated with our newly published BMJ Open paper has been made publicly available on Zenodo.

The dataset includes anonymised primary care data on frailty indicators, chronic diseases, and demographic variables among adults aged 40–69 in Montenegro. It provides a valuable resource for researchers working on biological ageing, frailty, multimorbidity, and AI-driven risk modelling, particularly in middle-income and transitional health systems.

By sharing this dataset, AI-AGE aims to support international collaboration, reproducibility, and secondary analyses that can further advance non-invasive ageing research.

🔗 Access the dataset on Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15530367

AI-AGE Project Update for September

At the September team meeting, members discussed recent progress and upcoming project goals. The team submitted a journal paper on AI software for image quality assessment, and we are working on refining predictive modeling for Alzheimer’s disease and colorectal cancer. The initial results are promissing, but more experimenting is on the way.

The team also agreed to extend the Biobank subscription for two more years, ensuring continued access to essential datasets. With several manuscripts nearing submission, AI-AGE continues to strengthen its interdisciplinary collaboration between technology and healthcare.

AI-AGE Project Annual Report Approved by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation

The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation of Montenegro has officially reviewed and approved the Annual Progress Report for the first research year of the project AI-AGE – Artificial Intelligence Supported Identification of Novel Non-invasive Biomarkers of Aging. The report highlights successful completion of all planned activities, including establishment of research infrastructure, expanded access to the UK Biobank, advanced AI/ML experimentation, and the initiation of interdisciplinary doctoral research.

Following the first successful year, AI-AGE will continue for two more years in accordance with the approved work plan. The focus for the next phase will be on validating early research results, publishing scientific papers, and strengthening international cooperation. The project continues to play a key role in advancing Montenegro’s research capacities in artificial intelligence and biomedicine through collaboration between the University of Donja Gorica and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro.

Official confirmation of the project implementation for the first year

Exploring Frailty and Multimorbidity: Advancing Healthcare for Middle-Aged Populations in Montenegro

At the Department of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, groundbreaking research is being conducted to address a growing health challenge: frailty and its connection to multimorbidity in middle-aged individuals. While traditionally associated with older adults, frailty is increasingly recognized as a critical issue for younger age groups, with significant implications for healthcare systems.

Exploring Frailty and Multimorbidity: Advancing Healthcare for Middle-Aged Populations in Montenegro

🔍 Why This Research Matters:

Frailty and multimorbidity are major contributors to increased mortality rates and healthcare utilization, creating a substantial burden on individuals and health systems alike. By examining these issues in a middle-aged Montenegrin population, this research aims to fill a critical knowledge gap and pave the way for more proactive healthcare approaches.

🎯 Main Goals of the Study:

  • Understand Frailty Prevalence: Investigate how frailty impacts middle-aged individuals and its relationship with chronic and infectious diseases.
  • Enhance Healthcare Strategies: Explore patterns in healthcare utilization to better address the dual challenges of frailty and multimorbidity.
  • Strengthen Health Systems: Provide actionable insights to support early identification and timely interventions for at-risk individuals, particularly in low- and middle-income settings.

This research emphasizes the urgent need to integrate frailty and multimorbidity assessments into primary healthcare, enabling tailored interventions that improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations. By focusing on preventive care and system strengthening, we can work toward reducing the burden of chronic diseases and enhancing the resilience of healthcare systems.

🌍 Building a Healthier Future:

The AI-AGE team is committed to advancing medical research that addresses pressing public health challenges. Together, we aim to create a more sustainable and equitable healthcare system for all.

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.

Advancing Medical Research with UK Biobank

🌟 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.

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.

New computing node and NAS storage integrated with the existing computing system
The equipment upgrade include a Computing node and NAS storage for data menagement

Research Topic Proposal Defense for the Doctoral Dissertation

The public defense of the Research Topic Proposal for the Doctoral Dissertation by candidate Dr. Isidora Rubežić Lukić, titled “Methods for Assessing Biological Age and Their Correlation with Morbidity and Frailty Syndrome,” took place on September 24, 2024, at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, before a committee consisting of:

  • Prof. dr Aneta Bošković – Full Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Chair
  • Prof. dr Antoaneta Adžić Zečević – Full Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Member
  • Prof. dr Nataša Popović, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Mentor and Member

After the candidate’s presentation, the committee members provided comments and suggestions important for the continuation of her dissertation work and posed questions that the candidate successfully answered. After all comments and suggestions were adequately addressed, the committee unanimously decided that the candidate had successfully defended her doctoral dissertation topic.

Dr. Isidora Rubežić Lukić successfuly defended her research topic proposal for her PhD thesis