Lab experience at the IPATIMUP in Porto – Mauro Mannino

Spending October 2025 at IPATIMUP (Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto), within the i3S research complex in Porto, meant stepping into one of Europe’s most forward-thinking digital pathology laboratories. This internship, carried out through the Virgilio Program of the University of Milano-Bicocca, offered me the opportunity to experience how innovation and collaboration intertwine in a truly international research environment. Under the guidance of Prof. Catarina Eloy, I joined Dr. Sirithep Plumworasawat in a pilot project exploring how quantitative image analysis can distinguish thyroid tumor variants. Together we worked on digitized H&E and immunohistochemistry slides, using QuPath to segment and measure cells and Python to translate those measurements into morphometric data that could reveal subtle diagnostic patterns.

Outside the project bench, I followed the laboratory workflow led by Monica Curado, learned about slide scanning with João Vale, discussed machine-learning validation with Dr. Ivan Rienda, and discovered the clinical and ethical side of artificial intelligence with Dr. António Polónia and Dr. João Pinto. Conversations with Dr. Manana Jikurashvili opened windows on other digital initiatives and on how different countries approach pathology’s digital transition.

What made the month unforgettable was the team’s openness: technicians, attending pathologists, and research fellows sharing knowledge with enthusiasm and care. IPATIMUP’s blend of precision, creativity, and collaboration turned every task into an invitation to think further. I left Porto convinced that digital pathology is not merely a new tool for diagnosis, but a shared language that medicine and technology share to explore new frontiers. I thank this entire team who clearly speaks this new language fluently, and I am especially grateful to Fondazione Vollaro for its financial support, without which this experience would not have been possible.