Google's
Latin America Research Awards (LARA) has announced the 22 research projects, carried out by Master and PhD students, which will receive US$500,000 of funding to be implemented.
Among the recipients is a project conducted by Peruvians Mario Salguedo and Mirko Zimic —students at
Cayetano Heredia University— which seeks to facilitate a rapid and low-cost serological diagnosis of COVID-19 using mobile technologies and artificial intelligence.
The Peruvian research developed a new technique to detect antibodies to the COVID-19 virus using microagglutination images —digitally captured with a 3D printed smartphone microscope— and, with the support of artificial intelligence algorithms, images will be analyzed in real time and a rapid diagnosis will be provided.
This year, LARA included a category exclusively for COVID-19-related projects. Out of the 22 selected undertakings, five stood out for their development of tools that help improve the virus-related procedures and, thus, contribute to a more effective detection, diagnosis, and treatment.
"Latin America has a great academic and research potential, and we have confirmed this with the projects that have been recognized this year," he stated.
"Groups of researchers like these will make it possible for us to have a more innovative future, with better solutions and in constant development. In addition, the promotion of spaces for interaction among the Government, companies, and academia should be more and more constant," Ribeiro-Neto added.
Google's Latin America Research Awards are one-year awards structured as unrestricted gifts to support the work of permanent faculty members and their students who are pursuing cutting-edge research in specific fields related to computer science at universities in Latin America.
This program will allocate US$500,000 each year to be distributed among the awardees.
(END) NDP/SPV/RMB/MVB
Published: 12/2/2020