Revolutionize Health with AI & Nutrition
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Dear Donor,
I am a member of an international team of scientists based in Switzerland, specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and nutrition. My commitment is to revolutionize the understanding of the gut microbiota and its significant impact on health. Currently, I am seeking funding to support our pioneering research. This research aims to explore how diet and lifestyle can radically transform the treatment and prevention of inflammatory diseases, promote lasting wellness, and yield critical insights to extend life expectancy.
It all started 30 years ago with my personal struggle against an autoimmune chronic disease. My name is David García Broto, and I am the founding researcher of this project. In 2023, a significant turn of events occurred when my path crossed with Marcel Salathé, a prominent professor at EPFL and a renowned scientist and entrepreneur. Recognizing the potential of my vision, Professor Salathé decided to support me. Together, we have combined our expertise to bring this ambitious initiative to life.
THIS IS THE STORY OF OUR JOURNEY
Born in Barcelona 52 years ago, I am a software and AI engineer, technology entrepreneur (1st prize InnoBIT 2001), and have been suffering from a chronic disease called Ulcerative Colitis for three decades. It is an autoimmune disease that affects the colon.
Conventional medicine has treated it with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, which are effective but come with serious side effects. However, over the years, and thanks to my passion for sports (marathon running and mountaineering) and my keen interest in nutrition, I learned to control it with diet and lifestyle. And now I am better than ever.
In 2021, I initiated a collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), a leading research institution in Spain. That partnership aimed to convert my personal experiences and learnings into scientific knowledge that could benefit others.
But, despite all the efforts and the potential of the project, I was unable to raise any funding. I could not apply for public research grants in Spain because I did not come from academia, but from entrepreneurship. Everything that made me special (initiative, leadership, resilience, passion, etc.) is not usually recognized within the standard criteria of these funding opportunities. I tried three times without success.
I also encountered challenges in securing capital from the private sector, which is typically oriented towards profitability and immediate market viability. My project, prioritizing scientific discovery over the development of immediately scalable products, did not align with that focus. My approach was revolutionary, focusing on disease prevention through healthy eating and lifestyle changes. While this methodology is recognized in some branches of conventional medicine, I was approaching it in a different, comprehensive, and unique way. I was delving into areas that had not yet been fully explored in medical research, using my skill as an AI programmer and my long personal experience with the disease as a valuable source of knowledge, inspiration, and data. However, the private investors I contacted were primarily interested in ventures promising immediate sales, not in long-term scientific exploration.
Thus, in 2023, the project seemed to have exhausted all its funding possibilities in Spain. However, I refused to give up and sought opportunities in Switzerland, a country known for its thriving ecosystem of talent and innovation. It is there that I met Marcel Salathé and the fate of the project took an unexpected turn that will change everything for the better.
Born in Basel in 1975, Marcel is a leading scientist and entrepreneur, as well as professor and co-director of the AI Center at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland), recognized as one of the most vibrant and cosmopolitan science and technology institutions in Europe. His interests focus on Machine Learning, nutrition and digital epidemiology. He directs the Digital Epidemiology Lab at the Geneva Biotech Campus and has published numerous scientific papers in the biological, medical and computational fields.
Marcel works at the forefront of AI and its application in healthcare and other fields. AIcrowd, a platform aimed at accelerating AI research in multiple domains, was born out of his lab and is used by organizations such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and many others. He also founded the AI For Nutrition project, a set of AI-based platforms, mobile apps and datasets to advance personalized nutrition.
This transformative experience and vision at the intersection of AI, nutrition and public health is what led him to recognize my passion and potential and join forces.
Now, together we are leading an international project from EPFL to explore, through AI, the impact of nutrition and lifestyle on the composition of the gut microbiota. This collaborative endeavor aims to develop sophisticated algorithms that can analyze vast amounts of data on diet and gut health, offering unprecedented insights into personalized healthcare. The union of my practical insights and Marcel's scientific expertise creates a formidable team poised to break new ground in healthcare. This project could not only mark a turning point and improve the lives of many Ulcerative Colitis patients like me, but also lay the foundation for a future where general population wellness and longevity are achievable through more effective, personalized, and holistic Medicine.
CALL TO ACTION
To bring this groundbreaking project to life, I urgently need your support. I am seeking seed funding of 50,000 EUR for the first crucial year. This capital is not just a donation: it's an investment in revolutionizing healthcare through AI and personalized nutrition.
Your contributions will cover essential costs such as research and development, cloud computing for advanced data analysis, creating a prototype platform for dietary data collection, and the production of educational materials. But that’s just the beginning. As the project progresses, we plan to undertake more complex tasks such as dietary interventions in groups of population, biological sample analysis, and metagenomic sequencing. These crucial steps will require additional resources and funding, which we aim to secure in the subsequent phases.
While Marcel and I actively work towards securing long-term funding with EPFL and other entities, a process that will still take some time, your immediate support is crucial. It will enable me to fully dedicate my time to this vital project during this interim period. After two years of self-funding, my resources are nearly depleted. Your contribution at this critical juncture is essential for maintaining the momentum and bridging the gap until we secure the necessary long-term support.
The funds of this campaign will be managed through my own company, Imagiam High Image Techs SL, based in Barcelona with VAT Number ESB62244900. I pledge utmost transparency and will keep you regularly updated about our progress, milestones, and breakthroughs on the following platforms:
- Web: Nutribiota IBD AI
- Signature campaign on Change.org: Support Research for Inflammatory Bowel Health
- Social networks: LinkedIn
Thank you for considering this proposal and for your commitment to the advancement of science and human welfare.
To contribute, please click the donate button on this page. GoFundMe offers a secure and transparent process, ensuring that your donation goes directly to where it matters most.
For further inquiries, more information, or discussions on involvement, please feel free to contact me. I am open to exploring all forms of collaboration and welcome the opportunity to discuss further the potential of this project.
With gratitude,
David García Broto, MSc
Founder of Nutribiota IDB AI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- What is Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- The Health Problem
- The Economic Problem
- Solution: Food & Lifestyle As Medicine
- Impact and Benefits
- There Is a Need
- Change.org & Media Coverage
ANNEXES
- Stages of the Project
- Testimonials
WHAT IS INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), which includes Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, is a chronic disorder of autoimmune origin that affects the digestive system. In other words, your body's defenses go "crazy" and mistakenly attack your own intestinal tissue. This results in the formation of ulcers and manifests in symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloody and mucus-filled diarrhea, an urgent need to evacuate, fatigue, weight loss, fever, and other nightmarish scenarios.
THE HEALTH PROBLEM
- Currently, the pathogenesis of the disease remains unknown, so current treatments are aimed more at managing symptoms than addressing the underlying cause.
- Current IBD therapy focuses on suppressing the immune system response, a strategy that comes with significant risks and serious side effects.
- The limited effectiveness of existing medications underscores the need for developing and implementing alternative therapies.
- Moreover, IBD can profoundly impact patients' quality of life, leading to issues such as anxiety, depression, social stigma, frequent sick leave, and disability.
THE ECONOMIC PROBLEM
- 6.8 million people worldwide are affected by IBD.
- The burden that this places on healthcare systems and economies is huge. The standard care for chronic diseases like IBD involves significant expenses: costly medications, frequent hospitalizations, emergency services, surgeries, and treatment for associated medical conditions, such as anemia and psychiatric disorders.
- For individuals with IBD, average annual healthcare costs can be more than threefold higher compared to those without the disease: $23,000 versus $7,000.
SOLUTION: FOOD & LIFESTYLE AS MEDICINE
- Explanation: Our proposal includes intervening in a novel way in the diet and lifestyle of patients, with the aim of increasing the diversity of foods and nutrients in their daily intake and promoting healthy lifestyle practices. This includes not only dietary changes but also integrating regular physical activity, stress management techniques, and other holistic lifestyle adjustments.
- Anticipated Outcome: This comprehensive dietary and lifestyle intervention is expected to modify the intestinal bacterial populations of patients with Ulcerative Colitis, reducing inflammatory signals while increasing intestinal production of anti-inflammatory compounds.
- Impact: By modulating the intestinal bacterial populations and the immune response, we anticipate not only a decrease in the frequency of disease episodes but also an increased possibility of maintaining long-term remission of the disease.
- Personal Testimonial: "As the founder of this project and someone who has lived with Ulcerative Colitis for 30 years, I am the living proof of how diet and lifestyle intervention can have a profound impact. By applying these principles, I have kept my disease in remission, which not only reinforces the viability of our approach, but also provides a message of hope for other patients." — David García Broto
IMPACT AND BENEFITS
- Improved Disease Control: Patients will experience fewer emergency room visits, reduced medical leave, and a lesser need for acute treatments such as medications and surgeries. This approach also aims to decrease hospitalizations and the risk of both short- and long-term complications, including colitis-induced colorectal cancer.
- Enhanced Quality of Life and Emotional State: Intervening in diet and lifestyle empowers patients to gain more control over their disease. This proactive approach is expected to improve their overall well-being and reduce levels of anxiety and depression.
- Sensitization, Awareness, and Education: Our initiative will promote vital information about the importance of prevention and self-care in maintaining intestinal health.
- Reduced Healthcare Costs: Our dietary intervention approach aims not only to lower healthcare system costs but also to improve health education and awareness among patients.
- Advancement of Scientific Knowledge and Technological Development: This project will significantly contribute to the study of inflammatory bowel diseases and their relationship with environmental and lifestyle factors. We plan to develop state-of-the-art computational metrics, algorithms, and analytical approaches for this purpose.
- Impact on More Prevalent Medical Areas: Breakthroughs achieved in our project could also benefit research in more common diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, cardiovascular disorders, and various autoimmune conditions.
- Longevity and Quality of Life: A deeper understanding of how diet and lifestyle affect gut microbiota and overall health will pave the way for new strategies to enhance not just longevity, but also the quality of life in later years.
THERE IS A NEED
Every day, there are 3,000 Google searches worldwide for terms related to what to eat or avoid eating to manage Inflammatory Bowel Disease. This staggering figure demonstrates the widespread demand for information and guidance in this area.
Furthermore, our signature-gathering campaign on Change Org has received an overwhelmingly positive response, going viral with over 55,000 signatures and still growing. The public comments, a selection of which are included in the Testimonials annex, powerfully illustrate the support and need for our initiative. These responses not only underscore the urgency of addressing this issue but also align perfectly with our project's goal to provide scientifically backed dietary and lifestyle solutions for those suffering from IBD.
CHANGE.ORG & MEDIA COVERAGE
- Change Org: > 55K signers supporting this project
- La Vanguardia: 360,000 readers/day of the print edition; 4,000,000 users/month.
- Iberian Press
- Chema Alonso's Blog: Chema Alonso is a recognized expert in computer security and an influential figure in the Spanish-speaking technology field. He is also Chief Digital Officer at Telefónica, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world.
- SEGRE
STAGES OF THE PROJECT
This project is driven by a transformative vision: to shift how we manage inflammatory bowel diseases from a reliance on drugs to a more autonomous and conscious control of our health through nutrition and lifestyle. Our goal is to equip patients with effective, evidence-based tools that will sustainably improve their quality of life.
The proposal is divided into three main parts:
- Cloud-based Digital Platform: Our first step involves developing an intuitive application that serves both patients and medical professionals. This application will introduce a pioneering dietary record model, designed to revolutionize the capture and analysis of dietary data. Our goal is to achieve a deep and detailed understanding of how diet impacts wellness, thereby enabling personalized and more effective interventions.
- Model Validation: In this phase, we will collaborate with participants recruited from six prestigious hospitals. They will use our digital platform to record their diets, and we will collect biological samples for analysis. This process will serve a dual purpose: validating the effectiveness of our platform and offering participants valuable insights into their gut health. The combination of metagenomic sequencing and blood analysis, analyzed through advanced AI algorithms, is crucial for understanding the complex interactions between diet, lifestyle, and gut health. Ultimately, our goal is to uncover significant correlations that can revolutionize the clinical management of inflammatory bowel diseases, paving the way for more preventive and personalized medical approaches.
- Intervention and Follow-Up: In the final stage of our project, we will leverage the data collected and analyzed to formulate personalized intervention plans aimed at effective disease management. These plans will include tailored recommendations for dietary and lifestyle adjustments, specifically designed to improve health outcomes and alleviate symptoms associated with inflammatory bowel diseases. Following the implementation of these interventions, participants will undergo a repeat of the earlier analyses, enabling us to assess and confirm the positive impact of our strategies on their gut microbiota.
Our goal extends beyond mere symptomatic relief: we seek to empower patients to actively manage their disease. Additionally, our project pioneers AI and nutrition research to transform the treatment paradigm for inflammatory bowel diseases. By integrating advanced technologies and nutritional science, we aim for a future where patient autonomy and preventative care are central to healthcare practices.
TESTIMONIALS
These are just a few of the many testimonials that have reached us by email or through public comments in the signature campaign. Behind every scientific breakthrough and discovery are the voices of those who not only seek answers but are the very essence of our mission. Urgency. Support. Need. Pain. Hope. Help. Gratitude... Each testimony underscores the scale of what we are trying to accomplish with this project and the profound difference we could build together. Their stories not only fuel our commitment but also illuminate the path toward transformative solutions for those affected by inflammatory bowel diseases.
"In my long journey as an ulcerative colitis patient, I have been to several doctors, both in the public and private sector, seeking help both in times of acute flare-up and when I am well. I always get the same answer: 'We don't know the cause; we can't recommend a special diet; you have to take anti-inflammatories for life'. And that's how I've been managing it. But now my 18-year-old daughter has also been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, so the question I asked myself years ago, 'Where did this come from?' now echoes constantly in my head. I can't find a doctor who approaches her issue more holistically, looking at it as a whole and not by separate specialties. We need comprehensive help. If you can give me some guidance, I would appreciate it from the bottom of my heart." – Olga
"I am 52 years old and have been a patient of Ulcerative Colitis for 3 years. I would love to learn more about what lifestyle and diet are best suited for this disease. I really enjoyed reading your article and I am very open to make respective changes in my life in order to recover. Thank you so much for your great work in sharing with others your research and helping others." – Víctor
"Please, if you could send me advice on diet and healthy living, I would be enormously grateful. I have recently been diagnosed with Microscopic Colitis, a problem I have been suffering from for some time. I am 55 years old and this is the third autoimmune disorder that has affected me. My grandmother passed away from rectal cancer. I am deeply impressed by your project. I hope a sponsor will come forward." – Encarna
"I suffer from two autoimmune diseases that have wrecked my life: Multiple Sclerosis and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. Scientist like you, frustrated by hundreds of hospital admissions, toxic medications, and a life in a wheelchair with uncontrollable pain. I hope you achieve your goal for the benefit of many. Cheers and good luck." – Felipe
"Progress in this field is vital. Many patients seek alternatives to conventional treatments, which are inconclusive. Research is essential." – Isabel
"Health cannot be left in the hands of mere economic interests, or we will never have the best treatment. Investing in health and prevention is a public priority." – Paula
"There is still a lot of work to be done to make this type of problem visible and to do research on it. Affected people are often ignored and the necessary tests are not carried out to find really effective solutions." – Socorro
"This is a good end for Artificial Intelligence, and no others." – Juan
"I hope you will be able to move forward and do a lot of research. Good luck and thank you very much!" – Elena
"Collaborating and supporting research is always positive. I am a patient of Sjögren's syndrome, vasculitis and lupus, and I believe that autoimmune diseases should be researched to improve the lives of those of us who suffer from them." – Carmen
"I am a patient of Ulcerative Colitis and, in the last two and a half years, the affected area has increased quite a bit, from 5 to 20 cm. I believe that diet and lifestyle are as fundamental as drugs to treat this disease." – Ana
"We also have to deal with this disease in my family. I find the proposal very interesting in order to improve the quality of life of people suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I hope it goes ahead." – Francisco
"I have suffered from SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), and this experience has transformed my awareness of intestinal health and the importance of eating habits." – Rosa
"I think it is essential to continue researching this topic, since there are many of us who do not get effective solutions with current treatments. Thank you in advance for all the effort. I have Crohn's and, without a doubt, you have my unconditional support." – Isabel
"It seems to me a very important research for the health of a large majority of the population." – Agustín
"There are many people with these and similar diseases who deserve to have a dignified life. That is why I see that it is super necessary to fund and support studies to advance cures and treatments." – Adriana
"My sister has Ulcerative Colitis; my daughter, Irritable Bowel Syndrome; and my father died of colon cancer. I think it is very important to investigate all these diseases for the quality of life of the people affected." – Ana
"My full support to this initiative and my wishes that you find a way to alleviate this terrible disease suffered by so many people. Thank you." – Amparo
"I believe that more research is needed on this problem. Surely, many mood, anxiety, eating disorders and even other autoimmune diseases could be prevented and/or improved by attending to the inflammatory state of the gut." – María
Organizer
David García Broto
Organizer
Barcelona, CT