The project is recognised by Royal College of Physicians for pioneering AI cancer vaccine research

The UK Cancer Vaccine AI Scientist & Supercomputing Project has been recognised by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) at its Excellence in Patient Care Awards 2026, celebrating pioneering work using artificial intelligence and sovereign supercomputing to accelerate the development of personalised cancer vaccines.

The project was selected as one of the top three investigator-led research projects in the United Kingdom, recognising its vision to combine artificial intelligence, immunology and clinical medicine to transform how personalised cancer vaccines are discovered and developed.

The programme brings together researchers from across the Nuffield Department of Medicine, the Medical Sciences Division and the wider Oxford scientific community, alongside partners across the NHS, government and industry. By combining cancer immunology, engineering, robotics and advanced artificial intelligence, the team is developing new approaches that could dramatically shorten the time required to design personalised cancer vaccines for individual patients.

Central to the programme is the use of the UK’s sovereign AI Research Resource (AIRR) supercomputing infrastructure, including ISAMBARD-AI and DAWN. These national facilities enable researchers to train advanced AI foundation models capable of identifying personalised vaccine targets, modelling immune responses and supporting the design of future NHS clinical trials.

The programme represents one of the UK’s flagship initiatives in AI-enabled biomedical research. Earlier this year, it was selected by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) as one of only twelve nationally funded AI Scientist programmes, recognising its ambition to create autonomous AI systems capable of accelerating scientific discovery in healthcare.

Dr Lennard Lee, Consultant Medical Oncologist at the University of Oxford and Programme Lead for the UK Cancer Vaccine Advance, said:

“This recognition reflects the extraordinary collaboration between clinicians, scientists, engineers and AI researchers across Oxford and our national partners. We are entering a new era where artificial intelligence can help accelerate scientific discovery while keeping patients firmly at the centre of research. Our ambition is to build safer, more effective and more precise personalised cancer vaccines that can ultimately benefit patients across the NHS.”

The research reflects a growing national commitment to harness artificial intelligence responsibly for healthcare and biomedical discovery. By integrating sovereign AI infrastructure with clinical expertise, laboratory automation and translational science, the programme aims to accelerate the journey from scientific discovery to patient benefit.

Dr Lee also serves as a National Clinical Advisor to the UK Government and is a member of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s National College of Experts, contributing to the development of national strategy for the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

The Royal College of Physicians recognition reinforces Oxford’s international reputation for leadership in immunology, precision medicine and AI-enabled translational research, while highlighting the University’s role in developing technologies that have the potential to transform the future of cancer care.

Image (left to right): Dr Jedrzej Jaworski, Mr Michael Bryan, Dr Lennard Lee and Dr Thomas Starkey.