Genomics and Digital Pathology: Driving the NHS 10-Year Plan for Proactive Health

Photography: Leo Hillier and Shanice Montgomery

Author: Sidney Ocanagil-Tunstall

Photography: Leo Hillier and Shanice Montgomery

On 10th July, Pathology News visited Source Genomics’ headquarters in Cambridge to witness the launch of Source BioScience’s new partnership with Cambridge Clinical Laboratories (CCL).

Acquired in April 2025, CCL serves both the NHS and private sectors, offering personalised diagnostic services across oncology, virology, gastroenterology, men’s health, and fertility, alongside clinical research validation. Now embedded within Source’s Vision Park site, CCL is on hand to accelerate diagnostic access and innovation.

The launch brought together some familiar faces from the likes of AstraZeneca, Signify Research and of course, the Source BioScience team. The evening offered an opportunity to network, a guided tour of the genomics laboratory, and a presentation from Klaudyna Johnstone, representing Source BioScience, Pam Trickett, and Tony Cooke, former CSO of CCL.

Their message was clear: this union enables Source BioScience to deliver a broad portfolio of genomics tests to the market, allowing the team to offer integrated genomics at every stage of clinical development.

“Source Genomics, who were primarily focused on research and development in the past,” Johnstone explained, “now alongside Cambridge Clinical Laboratories’ diagnostic arm are together able to offer that much more for our clients.”

Having established the partnership’s rationale, the presentation shifted to highlight the importance of early detection, glimpsing into the NHS 10-year plan, relaunched in July 2025.

“This country is very good at reactive healthcare, but not so good at proactive healthcare,” said Klaudyna Johnstone. “Looking at NHS screening programs as an example, you will uncover that they are fairly limited in terms of who they are offered to with enrolment being based on age, disease type, and patient pathway. As part of the NHS’ 10-year plan and strategy, the focus has shifted to being proactive with early detection at the forefront of that, especially in Oncology.”

The NHS’ new plan seeks to put the NHS at the forefront of the “global genomics revolution”, using these advances to get “upstream of ill-health and make a reality of precision medicine”. This includes implementing “universal newborn genomic testing and population-based polygenic risk scoring alongside other emerging diagnostic tools, enabling early identification and intervention for individuals at high risk of developing common diseases”.¹

The 10-year plan does not just stop with Genomics. The strategy also showcases an emphasis on data-driven and proactive healthcare, with the goal to “make the NHS the most AI-enabled health system in the world with AI seamlessly integrated into clinical pathways.” With that in mind, the convergence of genomics with digital pathology becomes particularly pertinent.

Yes, both diagnostics are already being utilised in combination whereby the overlay of genomic insights adds to the morphological analysis. But with the advent of AI-based systems capable of analysing vast amounts of data, including digital pathology images and genomic profiles, to identify patterns not detectable by the human eye, one can only assume the diagnostic landscape will change to incorporate the convergence of both diagnostic methods.

Who Are Source BioScience, Source Genomics, and Source LDPath?

Source BioScience is the parent company, with its operations structured around two specialised arms:

Source Genomics, based in Cambridge, focuses on molecular diagnostics, sequencing, and clinical genomics. Source LDPath, operating out of Nottingham and Chichester, have histopathology laboratories that process more histopathology samples than the largest ICS (Integrated Care System) in the NHS.