The PathLAKE consortium includes some of the UK’s leading NHS Trusts and Universities in collaboration with industrial partners at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital pathology innovation.

The IUK investment of £14 million will allow for the digitisation of five major NHS laboratories, formation of a computational pathology hub, creation of the world’s largest depository of annotated digital whole slide images, as well as drive the AI innovation of pathology services in the UK.

The Precision Medicine Centre (PMC) at Queen’s University Belfast, alongside partners from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, University of Warwick, Universities and University Hospitals in Oxford and Nottingham, Philips Digital and Computational Pathology and several SMEs, will lead exemplar projects in AI and digital pathology that aim to address the demand for AI-driven diagnostics to enhance pathology reporting and improve patient outcomes through advanced diagnostics and selection of patients for personalised medicine.

The PMC, under the direction of Professor Manuel Salto-Tellez and Dr Jackie James, will lead on exemplar projects that develop, evaluate and validate algorithms that will increase the efficiency of pathology reporting and improve molecular diagnostics. Identification of appropriate cases and pathology samples will be a key factor in the success of the project and will be undertaken with the support of the Northern Ireland Biobank (NIB).  Additionally, the PMC will contribute to the development of a comprehensive training and education package focused on pathology and AI and aimed a range of participants including, pathologists, computer scientists, other academics and SMEs.

The PathLAKE consortium will play a key role in leading the development, validation and implementation of AI and digital pathology, driving innovation within the NHS and creating an invaluable data resource that will benefit global research and the provision of patient centric healthcare. Furthermore, PathLAKE presents an opportunity to build stronger ties with UK industry and drive economic growth.

Further information on PathLAKE can be found here.