Professor Isabel da Cruz and Professor Manuela Pintado from Universidade Católica Portuguesa were invited to visit AIDD Center for academic exchanges
Professor Isabel da Cruz and Professor Manuela Pintado from Universidade Católica Portuguesa were invited to visit AIDD Center for academic exchanges
On April 23, 2025, the AIDD Center was honored to host Professor Isabel da Cruz, Director of the Porto Regional Center of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, and Professor Manuela Pintado from the Centre of Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry for an academic exchange and collaboration discussion. The visit aimed to strengthen cooperation in AI-driven drug discovery and promote interdisciplinary research development.
During the exchange, Professor Henry Tong introduced the research directions of the AIDD Center, highlighting recent advances in drug discovery for neglected tropical diseases, exemplified by Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania species. Dr. Hsuan-Yu Lu presented his research in biomedical engineering, covering areas such as rehabilitation engineering, human motion analysis, medical image processing, and orthopedic engineering. Associate Professor Hongliang Duan shared recent progress in the application of AI for peptide drug design and screening. Professors Isabel da Cruz and Professors Manuela Pintado also presented their research focuses in food science, biotechnology, and sustainable development.
In the discussion session, both parties engaged in in-depth conversations on potential collaboration opportunities, particularly in AIDD, food science and nutrition, and sustainability. Professor Jingjing Guo from AIDD shared her expertise in molecular docking and reverse docking studies, proposing collaborative projects related to drug repurposing and target prediction, further expanding the scope for future cooperation.
This academic exchange deepened mutual understanding between the two universities, identified several areas of shared interest, and laid a solid foundation for advancing the application of artificial intelligence in drug discovery and food science, thereby promoting international scientific collaboration.
