Professor Angelo Bos is at the University of Alabama, Huntsville through PUCRS-PrInt
Photo: Personal archive
Dr. Angelo Bos, a professor at PUCRS School of Medicine and supervisor in its Graduate Studies Program in Biomedical Gerontology, is working as a visiting professor at the University of Alabama, in Huntsville (UAH), United States, until the end of February. The professor is a member of a cooperation project titled Development of technologies and innovative processes in health, coordinated by Professor Maria Martha Campos, under PUCRS Institutional Project of Internationalization (PUCRS-PrInt).
During his period abroad, Bos will work on adapting the assessment instrument of the Oldest-Old Multiprofessional Care Project (Ampal), developed by PUCRS Institute of Geriatrics and Gerontology, using mobile technology that will enable its application in different environments and countries.
Angelo Bos says that the UAH was created to support the NASA center in the development of space technologies, mainly in the development of rockets and propulsion systems. While developing such technologies, the need arose to create sensors that could remotely monitor both rocket components and astronaut health.
In developing sensors for various functions, Researcher Emil Jovanov has applied the concept to the assessment of health status. As it involves mobile technologies, it adapts to Ampal’s need to use technologies that can help in the assessment and home monitoring of the health status of nonagenarians and centenarians in Porto Alegre.
This is the first PUCRS project to receive support from the Municipal Fund for the Elderly, and this has made it possible to assess 245 participants at their homes. “This sample is unique in Brazil and extremely valuable for the University of Alabama in Huntsville, especially Dr. Jovanov. During my stay here, we are exploring Ampal’s different assessment needs and the possibilities for applying sensors that have been developed or can potentially be developed,” says Bos.
According to the researcher, PUCRS’ clinical experience in aging, on the one hand, and UAH’s technological experience, on the other, point to an enormous potential for the development of collaborative activities. Furthermore, among the activities developed are the co-supervision of doctoral students advised by Dr. Jovanov and meetings with professors from UAH’s School of Nursing and School of Engineering.
