Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: UC Academician is recognized for the second year among the 130 “Young Scientists” of the world
Engineering professor Daniel Hurtado will present a local scientific advance on “virtual patients” to leading international scientists, including several Nobel laureates.
The academic from the Faculty of Engineering Daniel Hurtado, was recognized among the 130 “Young Scientists” of the world by the World Laureates Association (WLF) , the main scientific event held in Shanghai, China.
It is the second time that the Chilean engineer has received this distinction from the WLF, whose annual forum of international scientists, including several Nobel laureates , will take place from October 29 to November 1, 2021, virtually and in person.
“This year they wanted to highlight my work by also inviting me to be the moderator of the Medicine and Biology session, where the Nobel Prize in Physiology 2019, Gregg Semenza, and the former editor-in-chief of the journal Science and former president of the National Academy will participate. of Sciences, Bruce Alberts ” , said Hurtado.
He added that the experience of the last meeting was positive, given that a Chilean researcher seldom has access to personally talk and debate innovative ideas with young world-renowned scientists.
“These achievements are not just personal, as our work depends on a great team at the university. As always, I take the opportunity to thank the support of my students and collaborators, the School of Engineering and the Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering during all these years of academic career ” , highlighted Daniel Hurtado.
The UC engineer, named one of the top ten scientific promises of the future by the World Economic Forum in 2018, will present the national development of “virtual patients” at the fourth annual meeting of the WLF.
The idea of the work is to contribute to the creation of virtual human bodies, so that doctors and scientists can perform treatments without the need to experiment with real people, promoting the discovery of new health technologies. In the case of vaccines, these developments could accelerate their creation and supply before a disease outbreak.
Contributions
Among the scientific and technological projects of Daniel Hurtado, the first mathematical modeling of a virtual heart in Chile stands out , to better understand the functioning of this organ and cardiovascular diseases, which is one of the main causes of death in the country .
Together with the intensive medicine medical team from UC and Hospital El Carmen de Maipú, the researcher also led the development of a digital platform aimed at reducing lung damage in cases of critically ill patients who receive mechanical ventilation in intensive care units. .
Another contribution of the engineer was the design of an electronic device that monitors respiratory activity in patients and athletes . The innovation was highlighted by MIT for delivering professional performance metrics to level athletes.