“To be located on the campus of the Hospital da Senhora da Oliveira, the ITAAVE represents an estimated investment of 43 million euros and includes the creation of an advanced unit for theranostics and nuclear medicine,” the Guimarães City Council stated in a press release.

The theranostic approach combines diagnostic tests, which identify specific disease characteristics, with targeted treatments, aiming to make therapeutic interventions more precise and personalised, particularly in oncology.

The partners—namely the Alto Ave Local Health Unit (ULS), which includes the Hospital da Senhora da Oliveira, and the Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N) —signed a memorandum of understanding. The signing took place last Friday at the Teatro Jordão in Guimarães (Braga district) during the 4th Symposium on Structuring a Collaborative and Multimodal Health Ecosystem in the Alto Ave region.

According to the statement, the Mayor highlighted the project’s significance for the municipality’s future, emphasising that its realisation could strengthen Guimarães’ capacity to attract specialised knowledge, create skilled jobs, and establish itself in a field of high scientific and technological value.

Ricardo Araújo underscored healthcare as a strategic priority for the local administration, advocating a vision of sustainable development in which scientific innovation improves people’s quality of life.

“There is no truly sustainable development without healthy communities. There is no impactful innovation if it does not contribute to tangibly improving people’s lives,” stated the local official, highlighting Guimarães’s importance in “creating conditions to attract specialised knowledge, generate skilled employment, and strengthen” the city’s profile in the fields of science and innovation.

“This is not a minor investment. We are talking about 43 million euros, the creation of 63 direct and 20 indirect jobs, and a unique project that allows us to solidify our ambition of establishing Guimarães as moving ‘from the Cradle of the Nation to the Cradle of Innovation’,” said Ricardo Araújo.

Meanwhile, the president of the CCDR-N (Commission for Coordination and Regional Development of the North) emphasised the importance of turning the region’s knowledge into better services, new economic activities, and greater added value.

“One of our main challenges remains strengthening the links between various capabilities, ensuring that the knowledge produced is translated into better services, new economic activities, skilled jobs, and greater added value for our region,” stressed Álvaro Santos, as quoted in the press release.

The head of the CCDR-N added that “scientific and technological excellence does not have to be concentrated in large urban centres,” framing the ITAAVE project within a vision of more balanced regional development, aligned with the priorities of the ‘Norte 2040’ (North 2040) Strategy.

For his part, the chairman of the Board of Directors of ULS Alto Ave (Local Health Unit of Alto Ave) presented the project as a new clinical and scientific capability to be developed at the Senhora da Oliveira Hospital.

“The Institute aims to integrate theranostics and nuclear medicine into a framework that connects diagnosis, therapeutics, research, development, and training, thereby strengthening the capacity to respond to diseases such as cancer,” explained Pedro Guimarães Cunha.

Cunha, who is also a physician, stated in the press release that it is “essential for this new capability to be developed with high standards of quality and safety, and with a connection to the public healthcare system.”

“It is necessary to find a solution based on criteria of safety, efficiency, and effectiveness—and, no less importantly, one that originates from within our National Health Service,” he argued.

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