Márcio Colunas

Born in Chaves, in 1987, Márcio Colunas grew up wanting to be a science teacher. This didn't happen, but his professional trajectory would come to represent an important contribution to the world's scientific development.

His passion for technologies began at the age of nine, when his elementary school bought its first computer. During this period he used to play with his classmates on those big floppy disks from the 90's, when he saw what turned out to be a career: programming games, which had to be as fun as playing them.

Later he continued his studies in Computer and Telematics Engineering at the Universidade of Aveiro, Portugal, where his interest in biomedical systems emerged. With the appropriate professional training and dedicated to creating new experiences and improving people's lives, it didn't take long to develop a completely new technology and become one of SWORD Health’s founders, together with Virgílio Bento.
In 2014 he moved on to lead SWORD's technology innovation department, eventually designing SWORD's Digital Therapist, an outpatient use system initially designed for stroke patients that promoted rehabilitation in a more intensive and monitored way.

This technology was eventually featured in Nature Scientific Reports, which presented the results of a clinical trial, validating the system effectively and demonstrating successful patient recovery.
In recent years SWORD Health has been developing new technologies aimed at musculoskeletal therapies (MSK), receiving numerous rounds of investment from world-renowned investors that allowed not only scientific and technological development, but also its geographical expansion, particularly in the US where today it is one of the reference players.

Márcio Colunas considers himself a highly motivated professional, eager for knowledge, passionate about innovation and teamwork. The team he leads appreciates the way he "creates overviews of engineering problems" and his ability to think "outside the box" - where he believes magic happens. For him, if there is no curiosity, there will be no innovation.