We are also publishing a policy paper setting out what needs to change if the UK is to be an even better place for data science-driven cancer research. CRUK can fund, convene and catalyse but data access, regulation, infrastructure, skills and incentives all shape what is possible. Partnerships are central to this. No single organisation, discipline or sector can unlock the full potential of data science for cancer research on its own. We will need to work across universities, institutes, hospitals, industry, funders, charities, government, regulators and, critically, with patients and the public. The opportunity is too big, and too complex, for single organisations to do alone.
Exciting future
And the £60 million portfolio is not the whole story. Project AURORA, a cross–Cancer Grand Challenges programme funded by CRUK, is a compelling example of the kind of AI ambition we want to see grow. It aims to develop an AI co-scientist for hypothesis-driven cancer research, helping researchers generate and assess competing hypotheses, integrate data with experiments, design assays, and support translation. If successful, it has the potential to accelerate the pace, scale and rigour of discovery across Cancer Grand Challenges, and more widely in cancer research.
I think CRUK has a genuine opportunity here: not just to fund AI, but to help shape what trustworthy, responsible, mission-driven AI looks like in cancer research.
This strategy has been shaped with the help of our Data Advisory Board, and it will only succeed if it belongs to a wider community. That community is already growing through our Data Community and special interest groups, and through our data-driven cancer research conference. The next conference, in February 2028, will be another important moment to build momentum.
I am really excited about the future of data science and AI at CRUK. Quantum computing, robotics and automated experimentation are all moving quickly, and the real power may come when these technologies start to converge. CRUK needs to be close enough to that frontier to understand what is coming, and bold enough to help cancer research benefit from it. Watch this space.
