In this insightful interview, Prof. Leontios Hadjileontiadis, the Project Coordinator of AI-PROGNOSIS, uncovers the project’s inspiration, ambitions, and potential impact on Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and care. This conversation offers a glimpse into the world of AI-PROGNOSIS and its mission to make a significant difference in healthcare.

Can you tell us a bit about how and when the AI-PROGNOSIS project was inspired?

AI-PROGNOSIS is a direct continuation of our previous HORIZON2020 project, namely i-PROGNOSIS (2016-2020), in which we established novel digital biomarkers and the founding ideas of the AI-PROGNOSIS. The success of the i-PROGNOSIS showed us the pathway to continue our efforts incorporating AI as the core of the extended ideas towards modern solutions for people with Parkinson’s Disease.

And what does the name of the project – AI-PROGNOSIS – represent?

AI-PROGNOSIS name incorporates the Greek word Πρόγνωση (PROGNOSIS) and the term of AI. In our previous sister project, i.e., i-PROGNOSIS, i was referring to the Intelligent, where by adding the letter A in front we entered to the AI-based era of the PROGNOSIS, highlighting the extended view of our approach, initiated in i-PROGNOSIS.

The AI-PROGNOSIS is an ambitious project with 18 partners from 11 European countries. What are the main benefits and challenges of such a large project?

Parkinson’s Disease is a very complex disease that needs to be approached from different views and the solutions should be based on multidisciplinarity. In this vein, we have incorporated in the AI-PROGNOSIS all categories of stakeholders that could provide guidance and contribution to achieve the goals of the project within a co-creative environment, where the expertise of each one when combined with the expertise of the others provides greater outcomes than their simple summation. 

What is the greatest ambition for the AI-PROGNOSIS?

To detect, prognose and assess the Parkinson’s Disease in people at risk and people with Parkinson’s Disease and to provide new AI-based tools that would facilitate the healthcare practicians in confronting the disease in a personalized and optimum way. 

What would you say is the AI-PROGNOSIS’s main added value? 

To provide new AI-based models and tools that could renovate the way Parkinson’s Disease is approached, both by the people at risk, people with Parkinson’s Disease, healthcare practicians and healthcare policy makers.

How do you hope the AI-PROGNOSIS will contribute to a healthier Europe?

AI-PROGNOSIS is all about people. The central focus is to expand the solutions of AI-PROGNOSIS to many countries in Europe and establish a wide community of people that could co-create new solutions for Parkinson’s Disease at a European level. We aspire that our outcomes could affect the policies in Europe and assist to a better knowledge, both at the research and translational level, about Parkinson’s Disease and its implications, applying new AI-based tools in clinical practice and assisting health self-management towards active and healthy aging. 

Last but not least, what is your wish for the project's first year and the AI-PROGNOSIS consortium?

I would like to illuminate our motivation to the society establishing the AI-PROGNOSIS community and build a knowledge base by analyzing retrospective data, designing our user needs and prototyping of AI-based models via a co-creation process.