GregoryAI was born out of necessity—created by Bruno, a digital strategist and person living with MS, to help patients cut through the noise of medical research and clinical trials. In this episode, Bruno shares his personal journey from MS diagnosis to undergoing aHSCT, and how his experience led him to build a tool that empowers others facing similar challenges.
Bruno is eager to collaborate with doctors, researchers, and fellow innovators to further develop GregoryAI and expand its potential.
Could this be the beginning of a shared effort to rethink how we connect people with science? If you’re working in MS research or digital health, Bruno would love to hear from you.
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More InformationTable of Contents
Introduction – Who Are You?
I’m Portuguese, single, 42 years old, living in Lisbon and working in digital communication. I teach at the Politechnic University of Lisbon (https://escs.ipl.pt/) and work as an independent consultant for communication strategy.
I have always tinkered with technology as a way to write and be creative. I keep a blog since 2005 where i posted some of those projects https://brunoamaral.eu/story/
One of my hobbies was always coding.
Diagnosis and Current Situation
When were you diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and what led to it?
It was in 2019 after dealing with extreme heat during the holidays. At first my left leg was failing a bit now and then, and over a few months it kept getting worse.
I went through 2 doctors, until a third, an Osteopath, figured out it was neurological. From there, an MRI confirmed.
Did you have any previous symptoms that, in retrospect, were related to multiple sclerosis?
No.
How were you feeling about the diagnosis and what was it like for your loved ones?
Knowing what it was gave me some peace of mind, thinking that now I could plan on how to fix it.
Gradually, with the way it progressed over some months, I began to worry and ruffle around for answers.
My family and friends were all very supportive. I have a close group of friends called ‘the lobsters’ who continuously out do themselves in helping me.
There was always a feeling that they were thinking, “he’s got this” and were there to be a part of the story.
Do you use symptomatic therapies? If so, which ones?
No. Nearly none. Just Sativex and Fampyra. If I stop them I get worse.
How did your lifestyle change after the diagnosis?
Drastically. My daily routine was to ride my bike to work, down the hill and back up at the end of the day. Maybe sometimes I would even stop at the gym. My hikes would go on for hours and beating my daily steps was just another day.
Now, I work from home and can only walk with a cane and someone at my side.
Have your personal or career goals shifted?
My employer at the time suddenly switched me to another project, and for the first time, my performance review was lower. This did not feel related to my skills.
I resigned instead of pursuing the matter, going back to being a freelance consultant, and then applying to a teaching position.
And I think I lost personal goals. At the point I am at now, aspiring to anything feels like deciding to walk through 100km of mud and darkness.
My focus is on regaining mobility and cutting down those km to a realistic distance.
What was your lowest point with MS, and how did you manage to move forward?
Asking for a wheelchair, and I am still not over it. The only way I can deal with it is when I am looking for a treatment or cure. The way I do that is by improving my method of searching and share what I find with others.
Treatment Journey and aHSCT – A Turning Point
When you were first diagnosed, were you offered disease-modifying therapies? How did you decide which one to start with?
I was presented with the option to use Natalizumab for a year given that it was safe and one of the most effective, with plans to switch to Ocrelizumab later.
It wasn’t a decision, I trusted the doctors and the arguments presented were sound.
Did you try other therapies over time? What were the reasons for switching, and how did they work for you?
Never. My status does not allow me to experiment with therapies that aren’t proven.
Eventually, you chose to undergo autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT). What led you to that decision?
The transplant became the only option at one point. My mobility was getting worse, and the only other option was to double the dose of Ocrelizumab.
I approached my doctors with the idea, discovered cases of successful MS transplants in Coimbra, and chose to risk it.
Where did you have the treatment, and what was the process like—from preparation and the procedure itself to your recovery afterwards?
In Portugal, the University Hospital of Coimbra is the only one with experience in performing the aHSCT in MS patients.
The process was hard because I did not know it was an option, or that Coimbra had done it. I sent out a mass email to researchers asking if they knew any options where I could have the procedure. By chance, one of them forwarded my email to a Neurologist in Coimbra. She was close to retirement, but was invaluable in opening that door, discussing with my doctor, and making it possible for me to try.
Since the aHSCT, how has your MS changed? Do you feel the progression has stopped or slowed down?
Maybe it slowed down, but it didn’t stop. Symptoms did change for a bit, and at one point, I could even walk without a cane.
GregoryAI for MS – Using AI Without Tech Knowledge
What is GregoryAI, what inspired you to create it and how can it support people with MS?
Gregory is a friendly bot, born in a raspberry pi that was lying around. It takes inspiration from baymax, the robot nurse from Big Hero 6, and Johnny Five, the robot that was always eager to learn. The name comes from aggregate and from Gregory House.
Its mission is not to diagnose, but to gather information and help identify what is more helpful to patients.
How accessible is GregoryAI for someone who has no background in AI or digital tools?
Yes, at its simplest level, everyone can subscribe and be alerted to new published research worthy of sharing with their doctor.
People looking for clinical trials can also receive free alerts.
It‘s important to mention that GregoryAI was always meant as a tool to help doctors and researchers cut through the noise. It serves patients as a byproduct of that and because the patient community has been the most engaged so far.
What feedback have you received so far from MS patients who have tried GregoryAI? Or from people using it for other things?
“My partner has SPMS and these alerts are giving me hope”. Reading this made me choke up. GregoryAI has been around since 2021, and patients have been the ones making suggestions and engaging on blue sky with constructive feedback. They see it like “someone is doing something so lets help with something”, that’s what I think.
Those bits of feedback are what keeps the project going.
Only recently have I begun getting feedback and suggestions from doctor. Thanks to them I was able to improve the observatory section to list all DMT’s and other relevant topics.
GregoryAI also helps users find recent papers and clinical trials more easily. Can you explain how this works and why it’s such an important feature?
The biggest barrier to participate in Clinical Trials is access to information. Most of the times the suggestion to participate in a trial comes from the doctor, who seldom has time to sift through 3 different registries and match trials to different patients.
GregoryAI gives us a tool to be proactive and present the trials to the medical team so it can be evaluated.
There’s another problem of being able to understand the technical language of CTs, but we aren’t able to break it right now.
Bruno, what are your hopes for the future of GregoryAI? Who would you like to collaborate with, and what kind of support or expertise would help you take the next step in improving the tool for the MS community and beyond?
I wish gregory can help us make discoveries faster and that is why i want to extend it to
the whole Brain regeneration field of research.
Hopes and goals
Do you have a personal dream or wish you’re still holding onto?
The only realistic dream I keep is to see GregoryAI move MS research faster, and help people like me walk again.
What development would you like to see in the field of multiple sclerosis in the next 5 years?
We need a major shift in how we discuss and research chronic disease. Right now, looking at the flow of published research, MS is focused on anti-inflammatories. Ideally, we should have a clear map of the areas of research and the effort being put into each of them. It’s an essential part if we want to coordinate resources towards better treatments and cures.
GregoryAI can help draw the map, but we need an organisation like ECTRIMS or the WHO to set the direction to follow.
Quickfire Q&A Session
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice from the time of your diagnosis, what would it be?
“Do what you can with what you have.” It’s not about accomplishing the goal but at least we can do a little bit to move things in the right direction and make things better for everyone further on.
Complete the sentence: "For me, multiple sclerosis is...."
A nemesis, a villain that made me focus on what is important.
Farewell
Do you have any advice you would give your younger self for the timing of diagnosis?
Don’t wait for good things to happen.
What message would you like to leave for our listeners today?
I believe that there is hope to changing the path of MS research and develop treatments that repair the brain. But I don’t believe that the current actors are pushing the field in that direction. Patient associations, and patients themselves can change that by questioning more, learning more about what is going on in Pharma companies, universities, and research groups. Start by asking why isn’t there more research on myelin repair, since it affects more than just MS patients..
Where can people find you online or follow your journey?
A heartfelt thank you to Bruno for sharing his story, his vision, and his courage.
We truly hope this episode reaches researchers and innovators who can help advance GregoryAI—and that Bruno, in turn, finds the support he needs to continue improving the tool and one day take part in a successful study for myelin repair.
See you soon and try to make the best out of your life,
Nele
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