Artificial intelligence has immense potential to tackle the major global health challenges, optimise healthcare systems and improve patient outcomes. It will play a key role in accelerating the selection and evaluation of drug targets, unravelling the complexities of causal gene-phenotype relationships, structuring and analysing vast quantities of unstructured and semi-structured data, and facilitating predictive models from multi-modal data.
The greatest challenge to realising this potential is translation of AI research into real-world use. Our AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Biomedical Innovation (AI4BI CDT) aims to address this challenge by training interdisciplinary researchers who would possess the technical skills, biomedical domain knowledge, and experience developing and implementing innovative AI approaches in the private and public sectors.
Following the success of our predecessor CDT in Biomedical AI, UKRI have awarded us funding to train another five cohorts of twelve students, to be recruited annually in 2024-28. The new CDT programme is grounded in our broad experience in doctoral training, defined in partnership with our external stakeholders, and centred on our research strengths in biomedical artificial intelligence.
We will recruit students from different backgrounds to build truly interdisciplinary cohort with complementary knowledge. Our model is suitable for both those with relatively little prior exposure to computer science and mathematics, but who contribute essential biomedical knowledge, and those with backgrounds in computer science, mathematics or physics who wish to develop and apply methodologies to biomedicine.
Our students will acquire technical skills from computer science, mathematics, and statistics, and domain knowledge from biomedical and clinical sciences. They will know how to practice responsible research, innovation and open science and will adopt best practice for minimising risk of bias in AI and ensuring model explainability. Their first-hand experience working with stakeholders and engaging in practical innovation training will enable them to deliver innovation in practice.
Well-rounded training and development, collaboration and engagement opportunities provided to the students through our programme will turn them into highly competent, sought-after researchers suitable for a variety of careers both inside and outside of academia.
