In a remarkable achievement, Dr. Guido Giunti, NeuroInsight Fellow and Digital Therapeutic Lead at Trinity College Dublin has been awarded a Global Patient Innovator Award. This is part of the 2024 HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) Changemaker in Health Awards, celebrating healthcare leaders who are spearheading transformations in healthcare and advocating for patients. 

Dr Giunti’s work combines medicine, participatory design, and technology to amplify the voices of people living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), their family members and healthcare professionals. His active collaboration with stakeholders and patient associations around the world including MS Ireland, have resulted in the co-creation of impactful digital health solutions. A standout example is the gamified “More Stamina,” a tool aiding those with MS in managing energy levels and minimizing the impact of fatigue on daily life. 

His innovative work is part of the Marie Sklodowska Curie COFUND NeuroInsight postdoctoral Fellowships, a collaboration between two of the SFI Research Centres, FutureNeuro and Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, supervised by Prof. Colin Doherty from TCD and FutureNeuro and Prof. Tomas Ward from Insight at DCU. 

Winning this award underscores Dr Giunti’s dedication to improving patient care and reflects our commitment to expanding and enriching patient and public involvement within FutureNeuro, to ensure that people with neurological conditions remain at the forefront of our research. 

Dr. Guido Giunti, NeuroInsight Fellow and Digital Therapeutic Lead at Trinity College Dublin, said:

“To receive an award, any award, is always a great honor; but to be recognized for working on innovations that help patients is double the honor. It means that what we are doing matters, we are actually helping people.” 

“When I started working on digital health, over a decade ago, it was still seen as an oddity. I had colleagues who told me that if I started doing tech stuff, I would stop being a healthcare professional, in my head I was just expanding the definition.” 

The selection process involved a public vote, and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported Dr Giunti through this journey. He is now set to receive the award at the official HIMSS conference in Orlando this March.