UKRI puts more than £52m into five hubs building early-diagnosis health technology
The hubs in Exeter, London, Southampton and Sunderland will work on AI eye scans, cough-analysing apps, head-impact alerts, brain health clinics and a home heart coach, with partners adding £37.5m.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
Five research hubs that aim to spot illness before symptoms appear have been awarded more than £52 million of government money through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the funder announced on Friday. Their partners, which include the NHS, Alzheimer's Society, Google, Siemens and Medtronic, will put in a further £37.5 million in cash and in-kind support.
The £52 million includes £1 million from the UKRI Life Science Programme, which is going to the heart technology hub. The hubs are based in Exeter, London, Southampton and Sunderland, with two of the five in London. UKRI described them as partnership projects that will develop and test tools with patients, clinicians and industry, but did not say when any of the tools might reach NHS patients.
Science minister Chris McDonald marked the announcement with a visit to the Sunderland Specialist Eye Hospital, where the NORI hub was launched.
The five hubs
Sunderland (NORI). Led by Professor Matthew Campbell at the University of Sunderland, the Northern Ophthalmic Research and Innovation hub will use AI to read routine eye scans alongside NHS health records and community data. Changes in the small blood vessels and nerve tissue at the back of the eye can point to wider illness, and the hub will start with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Partners include South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, Moorfields Eye Hospital and TopCon Healthcare.
Southampton (CRISP). The Community Respiratory Infection Screening and Prognostics hub, led by Associate Professor Alexander Edwards, will develop wearable sensors, smartphone apps that listen to coughs and breathing, and rapid tests for use at home. AI will combine the readings to suggest whether someone with a respiratory infection should rest or contact a pharmacist or GP. UKRI puts acute respiratory infections at around 25 million GP consultations and 850,000 hospital admissions a year in England. Nokia, Samsung and the Department of Health and Social Care are among its partners.
Exeter (BRAINIAC). Professor David Llewellyn's hub plans the UK's first network of NHS brain health clinics, where AI pulls together blood tests, brain scans and memory tests. Ten sites will test the approach with more than 1,700 patients. The aim is to reduce the risk of dementia and speed up diagnosis by up to 50%.
Imperial College London (BRAIN-SAFE). Led by Professor David Sharp, this hub will build computer models that estimate the risk of brain injury after a blow to the head, taking account of age, sex and previous injuries. Possible uses include alerts at the pitch side in sport and crash data from cars and phones that warns paramedics of a likely brain injury. The Royal Air Force, World Rugby and GB Boxing are among its partners.
King's College London (HeartTech). Professor Sebastien Ourselin's team will combine wearable data, imaging and health records to find people at risk of cardiovascular disease earlier, including an AI coach that prompts lifestyle changes and flags when to see a clinician.
