High-risk but high-reward research tackling hardest-to-treat cancers receives £2 million funding boost

Innovative researchers working to tackle some of the hardest-to-treat cancers, including through the use of AI, have received a £2 million funding boost.

Innovative researchers working to tackle some of the hardest-to-treat cancers, including through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), have received a £2 million funding boost, Science and Technology Secretary, Michelle Donelan, has announced today (Tuesday 12 September).

Four teams from across the UK will receive £500,000 each to drive forward high-risk but high-reward projects that could prove key to curing cancers with poor survival rates, including that of the brain, lungs and oesophagus.

Among the teams to receive government-backed Medical Research Council (MRC) funding is King’s College London, to determine how artificial intelligence could read lung scans and more accurately predict whether a cancer is resistant to treatment. The data will then be used to create targeted drugs that selectively kill treatment-resistant cancer cells.

The investment follows last month’s announcement of £13 million towards research for AI innovation in healthcare and comes ahead of the Science and Technology Secretary’s address to the CogX conference in London today, where she will outline the wider potential for AI to transform the UK’s economy, society and public services.

Speaking ahead of this afternoon’s speech, Science and Technology Secretary, Michelle Donelan, said:

While pioneering treatments have progressed enormously over the years thanks to world class researchers, cancer continues to impact on so many lives – whether through diagnoses or experiencing the heart-wrenching loss of a loved one.