AI_PREMie wins NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award 2021

A new blood test that will protect the lives of mothers and their newborn babies has won the Invention of the Year Award at the 2021 NovaUCD Innovation Awards today. 

AI_PREMie is a risk stratification tool, powered by artificial intelligence that will identify women with the pregnancy complication preeclampsia [PET] and, crucially, predict its severity. PET is notoriously difficult to diagnose and kills 50,000 women and 500,000 babies worldwide every year. 

“Along with my colleagues Professor Fionnuala Ni Ainle and Dr Pauline Szklanna, I am delighted to accept the NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award today,” said Professor Patricia Maguire, Director of UCD Institute of Discovery. The three women are members of UCD Conway SPHERE group and AI_PREMie is a finalist in Science Foundation Ireland’s €2m (opens in a new window)AI For Societal Good challenge.  

“I cannot wait to get our new test ‘AI_PREMie’ into production. The potential to help clinicians to better diagnose and manage patients is enormous, hopefully saving the lives of thousands of mothers and their babies.” 

NovaUCD Innovation Awards recognise excellence across the full spectrum of disciplines at UCD. Founded in 2004, this year’s event was held virtually and hosted by Tom Flanagan, Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation at NovaUCD. 

Professor Orla Feely, Vice President for UCD Research, Innovation and Impact, gave a closing speech congratulating all of the winners. 

“I was struck by the depth of the contributions and the diversity - everything from tillage to quantum computing to preeclampsia to electric scooters,” she said. “It is a brilliant range, showcasing what we do as a university.”

UCD President Professor Andrew Deeks said the seven NovaUCD Innovation Awards “exemplify the university's Ad Astra, or, ‘to the stars’ motto, reflecting our pursuit of achievement and success”.

Other Awards categories included Licence of the Year, Spin-out of the Year and Founder of the Year.