The National Pathology Imaging Co-operative (NPIC) at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will receive £5.1 million from the Government to improve data infrastructure that will aid cancer and disease research – potentially leading to faster and more accurate diagnosis of cancer and other diseases.

Early diagnosis is key to improving survival rates and recovery, particularly for cancer patients. This investment will help NPIC gather and share digital pathology data from across the NHS, making it easier for researchers to access this vital information. NPIC aims to build a national digital pathology platform for cancer diagnosis in the NHS, where researchers will use this data to train advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) models.

The investment represents new hope in helping to treat and cure a range of diseases. Safe access to data will allow researchers to gain new insights into cancer, its prevention and treatment.

The project is part of the NHS Data for Research and Development Programme, which is creating a system that will provide rapid access to the world’s largest linked health datasets for research.

NPIC is a collaboration between NHS, Academic and Industry partners that will set up a digital pathology platform for the NHS and use it to develop artificial intelligence tools to improve cancer diagnosis.

Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said:

“The investment in Artificial Intelligence represents further hope in helping us to diagnosis cancer and other diseases. By leveraging NPIC’s digital pathology platform, we can support researchers with their investigations into various conditions, including cancer, so that they can both spot how to prevent disease and also find the next generation of treatments and cures faster.”

Professor Darren Treanor, Director of National Pathology Imaging Co-operative, NPIC said:

“NPIC welcomes the new Government’s announcement. The investment in Digital Pathology and working with the National Secure Data Environment (SDE) will accelerate research in artificial intelligence for improving cancer diagnosis for patients.

Dr Daljeet Bansal, Operations Director, National Pathology Imaging Co-operative, NPIC, said:

“We are excited that NPIC will be providing the National Digital Pathology platform for research.  The investment will build on our research infrastructure to provide researchers with safe and secure access to digital pathology images and datasets for developing and evaluating artificial intelligence models and support clinical trials”

About NPIC

The National Pathology Imaging Co-operative (NPIC) is funded by the UK Industry Strategy Challenge Fund and National Health Service. The UK Industry Strategy brings together industry partners and researchers. It will benefit society and the UK economy and is managed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

NPIC is based at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Leeds has been at the forefront of digital pathology and AI research and innovation for more than 15 years, with St James University Hospital being one of the world’s first fully digital pathology labs. Successes at Leeds are being used as a blueprint for deployment in other Trusts.

The consortium is a globally leading centre for applying artificial intelligence (AI) research to cancer diagnosis. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is a leader in the area of digital pathology for cancer diagnosis and has many close links with academic researchers.

Find out more about NPIC: NPIC – National Pathology Imaging Co-operative