The billion-dollar application (by two Italians) revolutionized medicine – Corriere.it

They say, “If it weren’t for the IT Olympiad 21 years ago, we wouldn’t be here.” Luca Faucini and Alessio Signorini. “Here” is Evidation, the company that built the largest digital medicine network in America and is now worth $ 1 billion, according to Bloomberg. This, above all, could revolutionize scientific research and preventive medicine, using “big data” and the user interaction strategies that social networks use to improve users’ health. Its platform Qualifications a path 4.5 million subscribers Share data about their movements, heart rhythms, sleep patterns, and other biomedical indicators, collected from wearables such as Fitbit e Apple Watch, To recognize the beginnings and warning signs of diseases such as Alzheimer’s or a stroke and encourage people to take actions that can protect them. Evidation is still a startup: Foschini and Signorini, both of whom are 39 years old, the first from Faenza, the second from Genoa, he founded it 9 years ago in Santa Barbara, California, where they chat via video, with their dyed face. Italian is now colored with a slight American accent.

“We were seventeen years old, after passing the selections of our schools and then cities, we were chosen to be part of the Italian team that participated for the first time in Computer Science Olympiad. To prepare us, they took us to Castellanza for a week and trained us there solving problemsIt is the true meaning of programming: writing an algorithm to solve very difficult problems in light of limited time and space, ”says Senorini. There they began to see everything in terms of possible solutions: from traffic lights to “anything else we thought we could improve.” They also became friends. Many years later, after they both graduated from the University of Pisa and then traveled abroad to continue their studies and work (Signorini decided among other things in search engines with Kimball Musk, Elon’s brother; Faucini at Google and at CERN) meeting together to solve what was for them the biggest problem Absolutely: health. Also from personal experience: Alessio Signorini is a son Gianluca Signorini, former captain of GenoaThen the player and manager of the Pisa team, who passed away at the age of 42 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SLA). “We and our founding partners Christine Lemke and Mickey Nash have been affected by a health problem either personally or through someone close to us, a father or brother – explains Signorini -. I’m big data In areas such as artificial intelligence or advertising. Then a decade ago we thought there was a better use. That we can use what we knew how to do with a greater purpose. It is important for all of us. And in fact, nine years later, we’re still all working at the company. It is very rare in the world of information technology ».

They created a platform based on ‘Life’ (Vital connection) to signals your body with Wearable technological devices. The app communicates with these devices and only shows users the aggregate data that it draws from them. It also gives points for healthy behaviors: running, weighing yourself, and eating right. Points can be redeemed in the form of small amounts of money or donations to charity – Luca Foschini explains -. We also ask them if they want to participate in the research. “If so, you will receive any questionnaires and, if necessary, home tests.” Companies that need this data pay to obtain it anonymously and provide the money to be compensated with it, and users who are always warned about the type of information they provide and the purposes for which it is used.

“In the meantime, the data is helping people, too: If you’ve had, say, heart or hip surgery and need to walk to recover, we’ll let you know if you’ve done it enough.” And so: the applications are endless. “Health is not attractive, we don’t want to think about it. We are using the Fitness app To make you take care of the things that are good for you, ”says Faucini again. One experiment showed this, thanks to the drive to apply them (the so-called ‘Digital interference’), A group of diabetics increased their flu vaccination rate, which could have severe consequences for this group of people. “It’s an easy-to-use tool,” says Faucini. Our idea is that with similar procedures can have a significant impact on a standard Public HealthThe result could be a complete revolution in Western medicine: from accidental intervention to repair damage to an organism to … Constant blocking Health problems.