First medical image analysis community meeting welcomed dozens of researchers to Porto

The opening edition of the Meeting on Medical Image Analysis (MMIA) promoted the exchange of scientific advances and recent results in the field of medical image analysis, bringing together more than 70 researchers from Portugal, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. The event also fostered discussion on pressing and current clinical challenges – with a second edition in 2027 already confirmed.

“The event fully achieved the goals by serving as a forum for sharing results, discussing future directions in the field and fostering new collaborations,” said João Pedrosa, INESC TEC researcher and one of the organisers of the meeting, alongside Sandro Queirós, researcher at the Applied Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (2Ai) of the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA).

In fact, participation exceeded expectations in this first edition. “The community responded very positively to our challenge. We received 50% more submissions than we had initially anticipated, despite the short period between the event announcement and the organisation”, explained João Pedrosa. In total, MMIA welcomed 73 participants and featured 58 abstract presentations.

The programme also included several oral and poster presentations, as well as a keynote lecture delivered by Jan D’hooge, Head of the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Imaging and Dynamics and Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of KU Leuven (Belgium): A 30-year Journey Through Cardiovascular Imaging: From Physics to Clinical Impact.

“The quality and diversity of the topics covered throughout the event generated important moments of discussion, leading to very active participation across all sessions. At the end of MMIA, several attendees expressed their wish to return next year, which clearly reflects the event’s success,” stated the researcher. He also announced that the 2027 edition will move from Porto to Barcelos, taking place at the IPCA campus on 7 May 2027.

Sandro Queirós highlighted and congratulated the “excellent work” of the local organising committee, emphasising that the collaboration between INESC TEC and 2Ai-IPCA “was fundamental to the success of this first edition”. The 2Ai researcher also extended an invitation to the next MMIA meeting: “At IPCA, we seek to continue establishing MMIA as a space for scientific exchange and collaboration, attracting more researchers and further improving the dimension and reach of the community.”

The event took place on 8 May at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) and included the presentation of the Best Abstract Award, sponsored by the Portuguese Association for Pattern Recognition (APRP).