Investigators from the iHEALTH Millennium Institute Awarded Fondecyt Regular 2026 Grants
Two principal investigators from the Millennium Institute in Engineering and Artificial Intelligence for Health (iHEALTH) have secured funding in the National Competition for Fondecyt Regular 2026 Projects from the National Research and Development Agency (ANID), consolidating the institute's leadership in frontier research that combines artificial intelligence, medical imaging, and precision medicine.
Marcelo Andia: MRI and Machine Learning for Healthy Aging
Dr. Marcelo Andia, professor at the School of Medicine of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and alternate director of iHEALTH, will lead the project "Metabolic Aging: Phenotyping Healthy Aging through Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Machine Learning."
The research aims to develop non-invasive methods to characterize the metabolic trajectory of healthy aging, using brain, thoracic, and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging enhanced with artificial intelligence algorithms. The ultimate goal is to create a metabolic aging scale that enables the optimization of personalized interventions to improve the quality of life of older adults.
The project proposes identifying metabolic signatures through MRI that can quantify the impact of health trajectories and lifestyle on aging. Additionally, the developed algorithms will first be validated in animal models and then transferred to human studies.
Julio Sotelo: Neural Networks for Advanced Cardiovascular Hemodynamics
Dr. Julio Sotelo, professor in the Department of Computer Science at Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María and a principal investigator at iHEALTH, will lead the project "Multi-Modal Estimation of Advanced Hemodynamic Parameters in 4D Flow MRI and Echocardiography, using Neural Networks."
This research will develop an innovative framework combining Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) with 4D Flow MRI and Doppler echocardiography images to overcome current limitations in cardiovascular hemodynamic assessment. The approach will enable the estimation of advanced parameters such as pressure gradients, wall shear stress, and vorticity with greater precision and without simplifying assumptions.
The novelty lies in integrating physical laws directly into machine learning algorithms, providing interpretable and consistent solutions even with imperfect data, thereby improving the diagnosis and monitoring of cardiovascular diseases.
Interdisciplinary Participation in Other Fondecyt Projects
In addition to the research led by Andia and Sotelo, other iHEALTH researchers will participate as co-investigators in Fondecyt Regular 2026 projects:
- Dr. Rodrigo Salas, professor at the School of Biomedical Civil Engineering of the Universidad de Valparaíso and a principal investigator at iHEALTH, will collaborate on the project "An explainable framework for lightweight foundation models on multimodal time series: A computational approach using XAI and Federated Learning."
- Dr. David Ortiz, also a professor at the School of Biomedical Civil Engineering of the Universidad de Valparaíso and a young investigator at iHEALTH, will participate in "Next-gen bone scaffolds: spinodal tunable architectures based on vitrimeric materials and bioactive composites for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering."
Fondecyt: Supporting Excellence in Research
The National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (Fondecyt) is ANID's main instrument for promoting excellence in scientific and technological research in Chile. Regular projects are oriented toward the production of frontier knowledge with durations of 2 to 4 years, being highly competitive and selective.
The awarding of these projects reinforces iHEALTH's role as an interdisciplinary research center that generates transformative knowledge at the intersection of engineering, artificial intelligence, and health, training advanced human capital and contributing to addressing priority health challenges for Chile.
