The UK government has announced £82.6 million in research funding for three projects, two of which are using emerging technologies such as AI to tackle cancer. The government has also made a commitment to provide researchers with access to “cutting-edge computing resources” to help harness “the power of AI”.
PharosAI, a project seeking to bring together NHS and Biobank data onto a “unified, powerful, secure, AI platform”, is to receive £18.9 million from the government, along with a further £24.7 million in co-investment. The project, a joint venture between King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Barts Health NHS Trust, aims to develop AI models to deliver “new breakthroughs” in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Bind Research has also received £12.9 million in government funding, alongside a further £12.9 million in co-investment, for its use of AI to “learn the rules of drugging currently undruggable proteins”, opening up new hopes of curing diseases “once thought to be untreatable”.
Commenting on the new funding, Wes Streeting spoke of the “enormous potential” of AI for cancer research and treatment: “AI will help us speed up diagnoses, cut waiting times for patients and free up staff, as we deliver our Plan for Change and shift the NHS from analogue to digital.”
The potential of AI: More from across the health sector
The UK Government published its AI Opportunities Action Plan last month, accepting recommendations for expanding computing capacity, establishing AI growth zones, unlocking data assets, and sharing alongside a proposed delivery timeline. Some of the 50 recommendations set out by the plan include the development of a long-term plan for the UK’s AI infrastructure backed by a 10-year investment, with the DSIT to publish a long-term compute strategy in spring 2025 and committing to setting out a 10-year roadmap.
We asked our LinkedIn followers for their thoughts on the biggest concern for AI in healthcare: equitability, bias, transparency or regulation? 52 percent of over 100 voters highlighted regulation as their main concern, with 21 percent voting for bias.
And a HTN Now panel discussion from last year looked at whether the reality of AI will live up to the current hype, and how to manage bias in healthcare data. Expert panellists included Puja Myles, director at MHRA Clinical Practice Research Datalink; Shanker Vijayadeva, GP lead and digital transformation for the London region at NHS England; and Ricardo Baptista Leite, M.D., CEO at HealthAI, the global agency for responsible AI in health. The session explored topics including what is needed to manage bias; what “responsible AI” really looks like; how to ensure AI is inclusive and equitable; how AI can help support underserved populations; the deployment of AI in the NHS; and the potential to harness AI in supporting the shift from reactive to proactive care.
