Six UK sites are to receive £30m in funding to work as foundation partners with the newly-established Health Data Research UK to address issues in healthcare through data science starting from April.

An additional £24m will be invested in other activities, including additional partnerships with other sites across the country.

Speaking at the Festival of Genomics in London at the end of January, Professor Andrew Morris, Director of Health Data Research UK, said:

“Health Data Research UK will create a thriving, high-energy UK-wide network of inter-disciplinary research expertise that will disrupt traditional science and transcend disciplines, by enabling new scientific discovery from large multi-dimensional datasets and the application of new cutting-edge technologies to enhance decision-making and improve healthcare.”

The six sites will include the following 22 universities, research and NHS organisations:

• Wellcome Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge, European Bioinformatics Institute - Cambridge
• UCL, Imperial College London, King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine - London
• University of Birmingham, University of Leicester, University of Nottingham, University of Warwick and University Hospitals Birmingham - Midlands
• University of Oxford – Oxford
• University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen, University of Dundee, University of Glasgow, University of St Andrews, University of Strathclyde - Scotland
• Swansea University, Queen’s University Belfast - Wales, Northern Ireland.  

“By working together and with NHS and industry partners to the highest ethical standards, our vision is to harness data science on a national scale."

“This will unleash the potential for data and technologies to drive breakthroughs in medical research, improving the way we are able to prevent, detect and diagnose diseases like cancer, heart disease and asthma,” added Professor Morris.

At the Genomics Festival, he said that Health Data Research UK will initially focus on: 

• Actionable health data analytics
• Precision medicine
• 21st century trial design
• Modernising public health towards prevention and early intervention.

“Our quest is to harness large-scale data analysis and technology to power the UK as a leader in the field of precision health,” Professor Morris added.
Find out more about the initiative here.