Learning Hub

< BACK World Psoriasis Day 2025: Advancing Prevention and Care Oct 29, 2025 On World Psoriasis Day, iPROLEPSIS highlights ongoing efforts to improve early detection, prevention, and digital support for people living with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis October 29 marks World Psoriasis Day – a day dedicated to raising awareness of the impact psoriasis has on millions worldwide. For many, the condition goes beyond the skin: up to 30% develop psoriatic arthritis , an inflammatory disease that causes joint pain, stiffness, and fatigue, significantly affecting daily life. This year’s World Psoriasis Day video shares how iPROLEPSIS is working to advance psoriatic arthritis prevention and care. Through clinical studies, digital biomarkers, and co-created digital health tools, the project aims to support early detection , timely monitoring , and personalised care . The ongoing PDPID study is developing and validating predictive models for psoriatic arthritis progression, while the iPROLEPSIS digital ecosystem – including the miPROLEPSIS apps, miDashboard for professionals, and lifestyle interventions – is designed together with patients and clinicians to make technology more supportive of everyday care. Its tools – the miPROLEPSIS and miPROLEPSIS-Lite apps, the miDashboard for professionals, and lifestyle interventions such as serious games and personalised recommendations – are co-created with patients and healthcare providers to ensure they are practical, easy to use, and truly supportive of everyday care. On this World Psoriasis Day, iPROLEPSIS stands with everyone living with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Together with clinical and research partners across Europe, the project continues to work toward earlier detection, prevention, and innovative digital solutions to improve lives. Watch the World Psoriasis Day 2025 video here: Screenshot 2025-10-29 083418.png Screenshot 2025-10-29 083418.png 1/1 PREVIOUS NEXT

We welcome your comments or questions about iPROLEPSIS project!​ Feel free to contact us by filling in the form to submit your comments or questions.​ Project coordinator Prof. Leontios Hadjileontiadis Project Coordinator Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Contact us We welcome your comments or questions about iPROLEPSIS! Please contact us by filling in the form below to submit your comments or questions. Ask your question or write a comment First name Last name Email Write a message I have read and agree to the Privacy policy SUBMIT Thanks for submitting! Please note that we will not give you medical advice. To discuss symptoms or conditions, please contact your physician or other health care provider.

Learning Hub Explore resources to help you understand and manage psoriatic arthritis. Learning hub Key Facts Handbook News Feed Quizzes Search How will psoriatic arthritis affect me? Emotional wellbeing See related Handbook section PREVIOUS NEXT

< BACK World Psoriasis Day: iPROLEPSIS featured by HaDEA Oct 29, 2025 On World Psoriasis Day, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) highlights how the iPROLEPSIS project is advancing early detection and personalised care for psoriatic arthritis Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory condition that can cause irreversible joint damage if left undiagnosed or untreated. To address this challenge, iPROLEPSIS is developing AI-driven predictive models and digital tools that help identify individuals at risk, enable earlier diagnosis, and support more personalised treatment pathways. In a recent interview with Prof. Leontios Hadjileontiadis , project coordinator, HaDEA explores how iPROLEPSIS brings together clinicians, researchers, and data scientists to transform psoriatic arthritis management across Europe. The discussion covers the project’s use of AI and biological data to build comprehensive patient profiles, its collaborative approach between dermatology and rheumatology, and the importance of EU funding and ethical, cross-border cooperation in enabling innovation. Read the full article on HaDEA’s website: https://hadea.ec.europa.eu/news/world-psoriasis-day-exploration-how-horizon-europe-project-improving-early-detection-psoriatic-2025-10-29_en World Psoriasis Day 2025.png World Psoriasis Day 2025.png 1/1 PREVIOUS NEXT

< BACK Highlights from IFPA 2024 Jun 28, 2024 iPROLEPSIS at IFPA 2024 The 7th World Psoriasis & Psoriatic Arthritis Conference, held on June 27-29, 2024, brought together leading experts and researchers to discuss the latest advancements in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Dr Laura Coates from the University of Oxford discussed the potential to prevent psoriatic arthritis, including the work being done in iPROLEPSIS and HIPPOCRATES IMI. 1/6 PREVIOUS NEXT

< BACK Developing Exergames for Psoriatic Arthritis using Agile Storyboarding and Game Design Processes Jun 27, 2024 Enhancing Mobility and Quality of Life through Agile Co-Designed Exergames for Psoriatic Arthritis We are pleased to announce our latest study, "Developing Exergames for Psoriatic Arthritis using Agile Storyboarding and Game Design Processes", presented at PETRA 2024. This research, a part of the Horizon Europe iPROLEPSIS project, focuses on creating Exergames to improve physical activity and well-being for individuals with Psoriatic Arthritis. Abstract Serious Games (SGs) offer significant potential in healthcare for disease assessment and intervention, enhancing patients’ quality of life. Exercise SGs, or Exergames, promote physical activity and mobility in a gamified environment, encouraging tailored exercises based on individual abilities and needs. Here, within the Horizon Europe iPROLEPSIS project that targets Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), we describe the design process of Exergames to address PsA symptoms, including morning stiffness, impaired finger/hand and wrist functionality, and motor asymmetry. From a methodological point of view, the storyboarding technique was adopted to facilitate the visualization of the proposed Exergame scenarios, including the graphical user interface, interactive game elements, narratives, characters, and contexts related to the PsA condition. This approach has been implemented within an agile game development methodology, which includes gathering feedback early on to iteratively refine both the game ideas and prototype. Informed by the results of the game design via two agile sessions incorporating 25 participants (PsA patients, clinicians, technology developers, facilitators/observers), the current efforts are focused on developing the game prototypes and corresponding mock-ups, preparing them for upcoming clinical validation trials. The Exergames development lays the groundwork for an innovative framework to improve gross and fine motor symptoms in PsA patients. This framework could inform healthcare providers and policymakers about its potential inclusion in routine PsA management. Read more: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3652037.3663939 Developing Exergames for Psoriatic Arthritis using Agile .pdf Download PDF • 1.70MB 1/1 PREVIOUS NEXT

< BACK iPROLEPSIS presented at PhD DEI 2023 Nov 13, 2023 Highlights from PhD DEI 2023 Organised by the Universidade de Lisboa (the Instituto Superior Técnico), the PhD DEI 2023 event on 10 November 2023 served as a platform for introducing new PhD students to the Department of Engineering and Informatics (DEI). The event fostered an environment of knowledge-sharing and collaboration among students from the Doctoral Program in Computer Science and Engineering and the Doctoral Program in Digital Media. One of the standout presentations at PhD DEI 2023 was the poster presentation on the iPROLEPSIS Exergames. This presentation, delivered by Bárbara Ramalho, a PhD student from the FMH-ULisboa team, highlighted the general concepts and objectives of the iPROLEPSIS project. The iPROLEPSIS Exergames were developed through a co-design process, emphasizing collaborative and innovative approaches to game design aimed at promoting physical activity and health. Read more: We now know the audience's favorite posters from PhD DEI 2023! - Departamento de Engenharia Informática (DEI) ( ulisboa.pt ) 1/1 PREVIOUS NEXT

< BACK iPROLEPSIS Innovative Federated Learning Approach at IEEE IST 2023 Oct 23, 2023 Enhancing Federated Learning Through Advanced Weight Distribution Analysis IEEE International Conference on Imaging Systems and Techniques (IST) conference served as a platform for presenting iPROLEPSIS research in federated learning, specifically focusing on novel methods for weight aggregation. Title: Federated Learning Aggregation based on Weight Distribution Analysis Abstract: Federated learning has recently been proposed as a solution to the problem of using private or sensitive data for training a central deep model, without exchanging the local data. In federated learning, local models are trained on the client side using the available data, while a server is responsible for aggregating the weights of these models into a global model. However, the traditional weight averaging approach does not take into consideration the importance of the different weights for the performance of a model. To this end, this work proposes a novel federated learning weight aggregation method that estimates the statistical distance of each client's parameters from the Gaussianity, and weighs the contribution of each client to the global model accordingly so that the most significant information is retained and enhanced. To create an accurate global model, a complex weighted averaging of the parameters of clients' models at the layer level is performed, considering as low quality the parameters following the Gaussian distribution. The proposed method can be employed to both convolutional and linear layers and it is based on the notion that parameters following a Gaussian distribution do not significantly affect the output of a model. Experiments with different network architectures and a comparison with a plethora of state-of-the-art approaches on three well-known image classification datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method for federated learning weight aggregation. Read the full publication here: (PDF) Federated Learning Aggregation based on Weight Distribution Analysis ( researchgate.net ) https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10355708 1/1 PREVIOUS NEXT

Learning Hub Explore resources to help you understand and manage psoriatic arthritis. Learning hub Key Facts Handbook News Feed Quizzes Search How will psoriatic arthritis affect me? Sleep and Fatigue See related Handbook section PREVIOUS NEXT

Learning Hub Explore resources to help you understand and manage psoriatic arthritis. Learning hub Key Facts Handbook News Feed Quizzes Search Psoriatic Arthritis Handbook Living with Psoriatic Arthritis Handbook How will psoriatic arthritis affect me? WORK Work can provide a sense of purpose, identity, achievement, and a supportive social network, contributing positively to your emotional and physical wellbeing. While your condition may pose some challenges, people living with psoriatic arthritis can continue to work as long as their profession does not exacerbate their symptoms and worsen their health. People with certain health conditions have defined rights set out in law, designed to protect them against direct and indirect discrimination in the workplace. Your employer is legally obligated to make “reasonable accommodations” to your working environment and practices to ensure your condition does not prevent you from doing your job to the best of your ability and in a comfortable and safe environment. h3.1 In the European Union, the definition of reasonable accommodation at work was introduced by Article 5 of the Employment Equality Directive (Directive 2000/28/EC): “shall take appropriate measures, where needed in a particular case, to enable a person with disability to have access to, participate in, or advance in employment, or to undergo training, unless such measures would impose a disproportionate burden on the employer.” This directive has been transposed into national law in all EU member states. Research has shown that people who need workplace accommodations and effectively use them are more likely to keep a job and stay productive than those who do not use workplace accommodations (39). However, asking for workplace accommodations can be difficult. You may be concerned about being treated differently and negative reactions from your supervisor(s) or colleague(s). For this reason, you may prefer to negotiate informal workplace accommodations rather than seeking formal accommodations. Some of these accommodations may include those supported by the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for physical activity and public health (40) and the ISO 11226 standard , https://www. iso.org/standard/25573.html , which defines joint limits to safeguard musculoskeletal health. By aligning workplace practices with these scientifically supported guidelines, employers and healthcare professionals can better accommodate the needs of their employees, fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment. Some examples follow: Recommendation #1: Avoid working for prolonged periods in the same position, whether sitting or standing. During the work shift: a continuous period of time in the standing position should not exceed 1 hour; the total time spent in a standing position should not exceed 4 hours; continuous sitting should be limited to 2 hours; when periods are dedicated to holding meetings, the duration of which should be reasonable, consideration should be given to the possibility of having them while standing or walking (41). Recommendation #2: Take frequent breaks throughout the shift. Please note that he definition of “breaks” must consider the following characteristics: Frequency: number of breaks/interruptions during the working day; Duration: micro-breaks (less than 2 minutes); short breaks (typically those that occur in the morning or afternoon, lasting between 7 and 10 minutes); or long breaks (meal breaks); and Type: passive or resting and active (including stretching or walking) (42). Thus, in an 8-hour working day, a worker should take at least a 7–10-minute break after consecutive 90-minute work periods. Recovery periods can include moments of rest or the performance of any other task to recover the muscle groups that have been worked. Within a period of at least 90 minutes, a worker should enjoy at least 30 seconds after 20 minutes of work. Both recommendations aim to address the prolonged exposure to low-intensity static load by limiting the duration of this exposure. These interventions help to alleviate fatigue and pain symptoms in the short-term, and to prevent work-related musculoskeletal injuries in the long-term. Active breaks add value; however, they do not replace the need to introduce diversity in the intensity of the mechanical load, such as rotational planes suited to the job’s demands (43). Please note that these recommendations refer to low-intensity, physically demanding tasks. Other recommendations apply to high-intensity tasks, such as those involving manual force. Recommendation #3: Physical changes to workstations work surfaces (desks) that allow alternation between standing and sitting, alone or combined with a training and information program for workers, reduce sitting time by approximately 60 minutes per working day (in the medium term, i.e., up to 3-12 months). This change in physical working conditions can bring about a behavioural change, with repercussions in an average reduction of 82 minutes in total sitting time per day (at and away from work) and in the average duration of consecutive periods of sitting (57 minutes) (42, 44). Even though workplace adaptations are consigned in the law, many people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases report a lack of understanding from their employer(s), colleague(s), and workplace doctor(s). You have options and rights; it is important to understand them and fully explore all available alternatives. If you are unsure about your rights in the workplace, please get in touch with your HR or occupational health department. More information can be found below: The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. (ACAS) https://www.acas.org.uk/reasonable-adjustments If you require workplace adaptations, please talk to your assistant doctor about the difficulties you have been feeling and request reports to present to your employer and/or workplace doctor. See related Key Facts section SLEEP Pain, anxiety, and side effects of the medication can make it more difficult for a person with psoriatic arthritis to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night. In fact, about 40% of people living with psoriatic arthritis report sleep difficulties (45). Good sleep hygiene habits may help to improve sleep: develop a regular sleep routine, that is, go to bed and get up at a similar time each day; avoid caffeine, alcohol, and large meals before you go to bed; if you smoke, try to stop smoking, or at least do not smoke close to bedtime; a warm bath before bedtime may help ease pain and stiffness; listen to soothing music or sounds before going to bed; avoid watching TV and using computers, tablets, or smartphones in your bedroom; make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet, relaxing, and at a comfortable temperature. h3.2 The impact of exercising before bedtime can vary among individuals. It is essential to listen to your body, establish a consistent routine, and pay attention to how evening workouts affect your sleep patterns. If you have specific concerns about your sleep or exercise routine, it is also advisable to consult with a healthcare professional or a fitness expert. Pros: Improved sleep quality: For some people, engaging in moderate-intensity exercises a few hours before bedtime may promote better sleep quality. It can help reduce stress and anxiety, leading to a more relaxed state conducive to sleep. Body temperature regulation: Exercise increases body temperature, and the subsequent drop in temperature after exercise can signal the body that it is time to sleep. This mimics the natural temperature drop that occurs during the evening. Establishing a routine: Regular exercise, regardless of the time of day, can contribute to better sleep quality. Establishing a consistent exercise routine is often more important than the specific time of day. Cons: Stimulating effect: For some people, intense exercise close to bedtime may have a stimulating effect, making it more challenging to wind down and fall asleep. Body temperature: While the drop in body temperature after exercise can promote sleep, exercising too close to bedtime may disrupt the body’s natural cooling process, potentially interfering with sleep. Individual variability: People respond differently to exercise timing. Some may find that late-night workouts do not impact their sleep, while others may experience difficulties. Recommendations: Timing matters: Try to finish exercising at least 2-3 hours before bedtime to allow your body temperature to return to normal and your adrenaline levels to decrease. Listen to your body: Pay attention to how your body responds to evening workouts. It might be a good fit for you if it helps you relax and improves your sleep. Experiment: Everyone is different. Experiment with varying timings of exercise to see what works best for you. If evening workouts negatively impact your sleep, consider shifting them earlier. Moderation is key: Intense or vigorous exercise close to bedtime might be more likely to interfere with sleep. Opt for moderate-intensity activities in the evening (47). Nearly 50% of patients living with psoriatic arthritis report high levels of fatigue (five or higher on a 10-point scale) and consider fatigue a high-ranking problem, after joint pain and before skin issues (48). See related Key Facts section FATIGUE Problem solving, planning, prioritising, and pacing may help you cope better with your fatigue: PROBLEM SOLVING Identify factors / tasks / chores / activities that are contributing to your fatigue; Think about solutions that could help minimise the impact of these factors/tasks/chores/ activities. PLANNING Plan the tasks/chores/activities you want to complete in a day or week; Make sure to include activities that you enjoy and can improve your mood/wellbeing; Do not beat yourself up if you cannot stick to the plan. PRIORITISING Organise your tasks/chores/activities by order of importance. PACING Do not use your energy all in one go; Break the planned tasks/chores/activities into smaller portions that can be spread out over the course of a day, a week or even longer. See related Key Facts section EMOTIONAL WELLBEING Living with psoriatic arthritis can take a toll on your mental health (49, 50). You need to treat mental health symptoms as seriously as physical symptoms. Poor mental health can cause your psoriatic arthritis to flare, increase pain and fatigue, negatively affect your work and personal relationships, and limit your ability to manage your overall health. If you feel sad, hopeless, and lose interest in things you used to enjoy, talk to your doctor, and let your loved ones know what you are going through. Your doctor may redirect you to useful mental health services such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and/or they may prescribe you an antidepressant. h3.3 h3.4 Remember that you are not alone. If you need extra support, we are here to help you: NHS Mental Health Services https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/ VERSUS ARTHRITIS / Psoriatic arthritis https://versusarthritis.org/ +44 800 520 0520 Be kind to your joints and your mind. See related Key Facts section See related Key Facts Previous page Next page

< BACK iPROLEPSIS Games Presented at the Pitch Competition during PhD Open Days Nov 7, 2024 Showcasing iPROLEPSIS Games at the PhD Open Days Pitch Competition On November 5th, Bárbara Ramalho from FMH/IST-ULisboa had the opportunity to present the iPROLEPSIS Games at the Pitch Competition during the PhD Open Days event at the Técnico Innovation Center . In her pitch, Bárbara highlighted the role of serious games in the iPROLEPSIS project, which aims to improve the care and management of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) through a personalised, game-based digital ecosystem. The PhD Open Days gave over a thousand students the chance to connect, network, and showcase their research to the academic community, industry professionals, and alumni. The Pitch Competition was a great opportunity for researchers to present their work and meet potential collaborators. 1/5 PREVIOUS NEXT

< BACK Psoriatic Arthritis Awareness Day Sep 28, 2023 iPROLEPSIS project is joining to celebrate the Psoriatic Arthritis Awareness Day This September 28th, the iPROLEPSIS project is joining to celebrate Psoriatic Arthritis Awareness Day, dedicated to raising awareness of the painful inflammatory disease often linked with psoriasis. iPROLEPSIS is a research and innovation initiative. The project uses cutting-edge technology and AI to develop a novel personalised digital care ecosystem for people with Psoriatic Arthritis. Join us on September 28th and help reshape the future of Psoriatic Arthritis care! News & Events iPROLEPSIS - events.png News & Events iPROLEPSIS - events.png 1/1 PREVIOUS NEXT