Full Professor · Unisinos · PPGCA

Distributed computing and artificial intelligence for real-world healthcare.

I have been a professor and researcher at Unisinos since 2000 and I founded SOFTWARELAB. My work connects applied research, industry innovation and software development.

Photo of Cristiano André da Costa
2025 Researcher of the YearComputer and Information Science Area“Pesquisador Gaúcho” Award · FAPERGS
10,000+citations on Google Scholar
45+h-index
125+i10-index
2012CNPq Research Fellow since
IEEE · ACMSenior Member

About me

I am a Full Professor and researcher at the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (Unisinos), Brazil, in the Applied Computing Graduate Program (PPGCA). I founded and direct SOFTWARELAB, the Unisinos Laboratory of Software Innovation.

I hold a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Computer Science from UFRGS. In 2016 I was a Visiting Professor at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Germany, with the Pattern Recognition Lab. I have been a CNPq Research Fellow since 2012 and I am a Senior Member of IEEE and ACM.

01 — Research

Ubiquitous and distributed computing for real healthcare problems.

Digital healthMedical informatics

Systems for hospitals, monitoring and clinical decision support.

AIApplied AI

Machine learning and pattern recognition.

IoHTInternet of Health Things

Architectures for smart health and pervasive monitoring.

Clinical DataInteroperability

Semantic interoperability in healthcare systems.

Ubiquitous ComputingMobile and distributed computing

Mobile, edge, cloud, and fog computing, and blockchain.

02 — SOFTWARELAB

Research, development and innovation with industry.

I founded and direct the Unisinos Laboratory of Software Innovation, a center of excellence that manages R, D&I projects in partnership with companies.

CoordinatorPlataforma INTEROPCHAIN: Interoperabilidade na gestão de consentimento e na análise inteligente de dados de saúde em blockchainRede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa - RNP · 2026–present
CoordinatorExplainable AI Agents for Multicloud Infrastructure Migration2026–present
ProjectMinha Saúde Digital (My Digital Health)CAPES and CNPq
ProjectInnovations in Hybrid Operating RoomsSiemens Healthineers

04 — Supervision

Master’s and Ph.D. graduates at PPGCA.

Source: Lattes CV · updated November 3, 2026
14Ph.D. theses supervised
32Master’s theses supervised
3postdocs supervised
21ongoing supervisions

Recent defenses

  1. 2026Multilabel Deep Learning Classifier as Potential Proteomic Biomarker Predictor for COVID-19 Post-acute SequelaePh.D. · Marcelo Benedeti Palermo
  2. 2026Towards functional independence in edge intelligence: An architecture for MLP classification in mhealth scenariosMaster’s · Alberth dos Santos Oliveira
  3. 2024Um modelo multinível para estruturação de informações contidas em evoluções de prontuários escritos em texto livrePh.D. · Jezar Machado de Oliveira
  4. 2024Multsurv: A multimodal deep learning model for hospitalized patients survival analysis in the context of a pandemicPh.D. · Felipe Andre Zeiser
  5. 2024A Value-based Approach for Information ClassificationPh.D. · Luciano Lgnaczak
  6. 2024Aida: Uma Arquitetura inteligente para Gerenciamento de DiabetesPh.D. · Luis Claudio Gubert

05 — Apps

Software I build myself.

Native apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac, some also on the web. Each one has its own site.

StonxStock rankings · iPhone and iPad

Quantitative formulas over B3 and NYSE data: rankings of stocks, REITs and ETFs, a suggested portfolio, backtesting and entry signals.

AllocaInvestments · iOS and web

Your whole portfolio in one place: Brazilian and U.S. stocks, fixed income, funds and pension plans, with dividends, returns and tax.

ListifyLists · iPhone, iPad and Mac

To-dos, grocery lists that learn each store’s layout, collections of books, movies and series, and shared family lists.

06 — Entrepreneurship

From research to market.

07 — Consulting

Digital health, AI and systems architecture for your organization.

Consulting and R, D&I partnerships backed by SOFTWARELAB, plus keynotes for conferences, companies and internal training.

  • Digital health and HealthTech
  • Artificial intelligence and data science
  • Cloud, fog and edge computing
  • Interoperability and semantics
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