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About

About

I am currently assistant researcher at INESC TEC and an invited assistant professor at the University of Minho. My current research rests on distributed machine learning, addressing several fronts. In detail, in the last few years, I have been delving into privacy-preserving distributed machine learning and federated learning, the application of distributed machine learning to healthcare challenges, and storage optimizations for machine learning and distributed machine learning. Now, I am expanding my research toward energy-aware storage systems for deep learning workloads and AI control algorithms for optimizing systems. I am growing my publication record on these subjects, having already some relevant papers in reputable journals, conferences, and workshops (e.g., IEEE Access, ACM SAC, EPIA). Finally, I have been an active researcher on multiple international and national projects, such as EU Project GreenDat.AI, Compete2020 BigHPC and AIDA, PT-UTAustin PAStor, as well as international consortiums (CENTRA).?

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Details

Details

  • Name

    Cláudia Vanessa Brito
  • Role

    Assistant Researcher
  • Since

    01st October 2018
009
Publications

2025

Promoting sustainable and personalized travel behaviors while preserving data privacy

Authors
Brito C.; Pina N.; Esteves T.; Vitorino R.; Cunha I.; Paulo J.;

Publication
Transportation Engineering

Abstract
Cities worldwide have agreed on ambitious goals regarding carbon neutrality. To do so, policymakers seek ways to foster smarter and cleaner transportation solutions. However, citizens lack awareness of their carbon footprint and of greener mobility alternatives such as public transports. With this, three main challenges emerge: (i) increase users’ awareness regarding their carbon footprint, (ii) provide personalized recommendations and incentives for using sustainable transportation alternatives and, (iii) guarantee that any personal data collected from the user is kept private. This paper addresses these challenges by proposing a new methodology. Created under the FranchetAI project, the methodology combines federated Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) estimation models to calculate the carbon footprint of users when choosing different transportation modes (e.g., foot, car, bus). Through a mobile application that keeps the privacy of users’ personal information, the project aims at providing detailed reports to inform citizens about their impact on the environment, and an incentive program to promote the usage of more sustainable mobility alternatives.

2025

Risk Assessment Profiles for Caregiver Burden in Family Caregivers of Persons Living with Alzheimer's Disease: An Exploratory Study with Machine Learning

Authors
Brito, L; Cepa, B; Brito, C; Leite, A; Pereira, MG;

Publication
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATION IN HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION

Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) places a profound global challenge, driven by its escalating prevalence and the multifaceted strain it places on individuals, families, and societies. Family caregivers (FCs), who are pivotal in supporting family members with AD, frequently endure substantial emotional, physical, and psychological demands. To better understand the determinants of family caregiving strain, this study employed machine learning (ML) to develop predictive models identifying factors that contribute to caregiver burden over time. Participants were evaluated across sociodemographic clinical, psychophysiological, and psychological domains at baseline (T1; N = 130), six months (T2; N = 114), and twelve months (T3; N = 92). Results revealed three distinct risk profiles, with the first focusing on T2 data, highlighting the importance of distress, forgiveness, age, and heart rate variability. The second profile integrated T1 and T2 data, emphasizing additional factors like family stress. The third profile combined T1 and T2 data with sociodemographic and clinical features, underscoring the importance of both assessment moments on distress at T2 and forgiveness at T1 and T2, as well as family stress at T1. By employing computational methods, this research uncovers nuanced patterns in caregiver burden that conventional statistical approaches might overlook. Key drivers include psychological factors (distress, forgiveness), physiological markers (heart rate variability), contextual stressors (familial dynamics, sociodemographic disparities). The insights revealed enable early identification of FCs at higher risk of burden, paving the way for personalized interventions. Such strategies are urgently needed as AD rates rise globally, underscoring the imperative to safeguard both patients and the caregivers who support them.

2025

Multi-Partner Project: Green.Dat.AI: A Data Spaces Architecture for Enhancing Green AI Services

Authors
Chrysakis I.; Agorogiannis E.; Tsampanaki N.; Vourtzoumis M.; Chondrodima E.; Theodoridis Y.; Mongus D.; Capper B.; Wagner M.; Sotiropoulos A.; Coelho F.A.; Brito C.V.; Protopapas P.; Brasinika D.; Fergadiotou I.; Doulkeridis C.;

Publication
Proceedings Design Automation and Test in Europe Date

Abstract
The concept of data spaces has emerged as a structured, scalable solution to streamline and harmonize data sharing across established ecosystems. Simultaneously, the rise of AI services enhances the extraction of predictive insights, operational efficiency, and decision-making. Despite the potential of combining these two advancements, integration remains challenging: data spaces technology is still developing, and AI services require further refinement in areas like ML workflow orchestration and energy-efficient ML algorithms. In this paper, we introduce an integrated architectural framework, developed under the Green.Dat.AI project, that unifies the strengths of data spaces and AI to enable efficient, collaborative data sharing across sectors. A practical application is illustrated through a smart farming use case, showcasing how AI services within a data space can advance sustainable agricultural innovation. Integrating data spaces with AI services thus maximizes the value of decentralized data while enhancing efficiency through a powerful combination of data and AI capabilities.

2025

Exploiting Trusted Execution Environments and Distributed Computation for Genomic Association Tests

Authors
Brito, V; Ferreira, G; Paulo, T;

Publication
IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics

Abstract
Breakthroughs in sequencing technologies led to an exponential growth of genomic data, providing novel biological insights and therapeutic applications. However, analyzing large amounts of sensitive data raises key data privacy concerns, specifically when the information is outsourced to untrusted third-party infrastructures for data storage and processing (e.g., cloud computing). We introduce Gyosa, a secure and privacy-preserving distributed genomic analysis solution. By leveraging trusted execution environments (TEEs), Gyosa allows users to confidentially delegate their GWAS analysis to untrusted infrastructures. Gyosa implements a computation partitioning scheme that reduces the computation done inside the TEEs while safeguarding the users' genomic data privacy. By integrating this security scheme in Glow, Gyosa provides a secure and distributed environment that facilitates diverse GWAS studies. The experimental evaluation validates the applicability and scalability of Gyosa, reinforcing its ability to provide enhanced security guarantees. © 2013 IEEE.

2024

A Distributed Computing Solution for Privacy-Preserving Genome-Wide Association Studies

Authors
Brito, C; Ferreira, P; Paulo, J;

Publication

Abstract
AbstractBreakthroughs in sequencing technologies led to an exponential growth of genomic data, providing unprecedented biological in-sights and new therapeutic applications. However, analyzing such large amounts of sensitive data raises key concerns regarding data privacy, specifically when the information is outsourced to third-party infrastructures for data storage and processing (e.g., cloud computing). Current solutions for data privacy protection resort to centralized designs or cryptographic primitives that impose considerable computational overheads, limiting their applicability to large-scale genomic analysis.We introduce Gyosa, a secure and privacy-preserving distributed genomic analysis solution. Unlike in previous work, Gyosafollows a distributed processing design that enables handling larger amounts of genomic data in a scalable and efficient fashion. Further, by leveraging trusted execution environments (TEEs), namely Intel SGX, Gyosaallows users to confidentially delegate their GWAS analysis to untrusted third-party infrastructures. To overcome the memory limitations of SGX, we implement a computation partitioning scheme within Gyosa. This scheme reduces the number of operations done inside the TEEs while safeguarding the users’ genomic data privacy. By integrating this security scheme inGlow, Gyosaprovides a secure and distributed environment that facilitates diverse GWAS studies. The experimental evaluation validates the applicability and scalability of Gyosa, reinforcing its ability to provide enhanced security guarantees. Further, the results show that, by distributing GWASes computations, one can achieve a practical and usable privacy-preserving solution.