The Astellas Oncology C3 Prize, which had its second edition in 2017, is a challenge designed to inspire innovative ideas in improving the care of cancer patients.
They received more than 160 applications worldwide, from which they selected the five finalists who presented their projects at the Union for International Cancer Control World Cancer Leaders ’Summit in Mexico City: Kevin Bambury, from ONCOassist; Howard Isenstein of Care Progress; Cory Kidd of Catalia Health; Charlotte Vander Stichele, MindBytes; and Hernâni Oliveira, University of Porto, with the HOPE project that ended up winning the Big Prize. The winner received a $ 50,000 grant and the remaining finalists $ 12,500, and all gained access to MATTER, a health innovation community that will help implement their projects.
The HOPE application, by the student of the Doctoral Program in Digital Media at the Engineering College of the University of Porto, was born in 2013, when the UP researcher was developing his master’s thesis in Oncology at the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) and in the IPO. It aims to help children hospitalized in the pediatric oncology ward and provide information on the disease treatment process, and seeks to address two main difficulties for hospitalized children: anxiety and physical inactivity. Currently, it is also an app designed for the parents, helping them in the search for credible sources of information.