Early Detection and Diagnosis Research Committee awards

Programme Awards

November 2025

Using biomarkers to better predict and intercept lung cancer (IMPACT)

Professor Sam Janes

University College London

Improving early detection of advanced metachronous polyps in colorectal cancer surveillance

Dr Philip Dunne

Queen's University Belfast

Professor Joanne Edwards

University of Glasgow

Dr Stephen McSorley

University of Glasgow

Explore the Early Detection and Diagnosis Programme Award

Project Awards

June 2026

Non-invasive early detection of recurrence in primary hepatocellular carcinoma using multimodal AI to enhance post-treatment NHS surveillance

Vivek Singh

Queen Mary University of London

Khawaja Shahabuddin

Barts Health NHS Trust

Exploring RNA pseudouridylation as a biomarker in liquid biopsy for early cancer detection

Chunxiao Song

University of Oxford

The MUSICaL Study: MSI Urine Surveillance to Identify Cancers in Lynch syndrome

John Burn

Newcastle University

Richard Gallon

Newcastle University

Optimising faecal immunochemical testing in the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer (Opti-FIT)

David Humes

University of Nottingham

November 2025

Chronoendoscopy of mucosal cancers

Dr Mads Bergholt

King's College London

Detecting and targeting translation inhibitor sensitive RUNX1 mutations in chronic myeloid leukaemia

Dr Rhys Morgan

University of Sussex

Establishment of novel orthotopic xenotransplantation hepatocellular carcinoma models with defined mutations using human precursor of chemically expanded hepatocytes for the identification of early detection markers

Dr Keisuke Kaji

The University of Edinburgh

Professor Tom Bird

The University of Edinburgh

Impact of digital scribes on clinical reasoning and cancer detection (DiSCa): an AI-enabled, cognitive analysis of multimodal data

Dr Olga Kostopoulou

Imperial College London

Explore the Early Detection and Diagnosis Project Award

Primer Awards

June 2026

SalivaNostics: molecular sensing of saliva for early cancer detection

Adam Sedgwick

King's College London

Tumour-agnostic ctDNA detection through multi-modal fragment learning in TRACERx

Jonathan Wan

The Francis Crick Institute

Multimodal pathology foundation model for early lesion mapping, quantification, and risk-informed patient management

Zeyu Gao

University of Cambridge

Coherent multi-transducer ultrasound elastography for early breast cancer detection and diagnosis

Laura Peralta

King's College London

Risk-adapted supplemental imaging using artificial intelligence in the NHS breast screening programme: public acceptability, equity implications, and information needs

Judith Offman

Queen Mary University of London

Genomic biomarker discovery from gastric fluid for non-endoscopic early detection of gastric cancer

Lianlian Wu

University of Cambridge

From steatosis to stemness: enabling early detection of pancreatic cancer

Jessica Nelson

University of Southampton

A novel biomarker for the early detection of relapse of paediatric B-ALL

Joan Boyes

University of Leeds

SCREEN UP: screening uptake enhancement through community engagement and navigation using mobile units for underserved populations

Dale Vimalachandran

University of Liverpool

Yasemin Hirst

University of Lancashire

Valuing Diagnostic Consequences In the Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer (VALID-OC)

Samuel Perry

University of Birmingham

Hareth Al-Janabi

University of Birmingham

Supporting early detection of skin cancer in renal transplant recipients through a co-designed digital self-examinationetool

Peter Murchie

University of Aberdeen

An electrochemical liquid biopsy tool for harnessing extracellular vesicle glycoproteins in breast cancer diagnosis

Anitha Devadoss

Heriot-Watt University

Designing a cohort study to validate biomarkers for HPV+OPC screening in high risk, under-served groups

Harriet Unsworth

The University of Manchester

Kevin Brennan

The University of Manchester

Detecting subclinical alterations in normal-appearing breast tissue in breast cancer: validation using field-cycling imaging

Vasiliki Mallikourti

University of Aberdeen

COSLON: a high-throughput, high-precision microfluidic nanoscopy platform for early colorectal cancer detection

Lin Wang

Science and Technology Facilities Council

A pilot to assess cancer predisposition mosaicism using samples from individuals with breast cancer and multiple primary tumours

James Whitworth

University of Cambridge

Plasma proteomic biomarkers for early diagnosis and treatment response monitoring in brain tumours

Petra Hamerlik

The University of Manchester

Isolation and profiling of extracellular vesicles in longitudinal blood samples for early detection of acute myeloid leukaemia

Aristi Damaskou

University of Cambridge

PORT-Cervix: portable plasmonic triage of HPV-positive self-samples for early detection of cervical precancer and cancer

Nikhil Bhalla

Ulster University

November 2025

Artificial intelligence in prostate MRI screening (AI-PROSCREEN)

Dr Iztok Caglic

University College London

Signal before shift: predicting transformation in follicular lymphoma

Dr Marta Crespi Sallan

Queen Mary University of London

Professor Andrejs Braun

Queen Mary University of London

Early detection of aggressive subclones and their stromal footprint: linking spatial subclonal evolution to tumour microenvironment interactions

Dr Srinivasa Rao

University of Oxford

Dr Beatriz Gamez Molina

University of Oxford

Expanding the cell-free RNA biomarker landscape: improved liquid biopsy and breast cancer diagnosis through advanced blood sample processing

Professor Nicholas Leslie

Heriot-Watt University

Salivary pro-resolving lipid mediator profiling for early detection of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Professor Ghassan Alusi

Queen Mary University of London

Defining aggressive growth signatures in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer to identify biomarkers of disease progression in liquid biopsy

Dr Luis Pardo-Fernandez

University of Glasgow

Validation of a rapid diagnostic test for early detection of esophageal adenocarcinoma using a novel multiplex protein assay

Dr Ahsen Ustaoglu

University of Cambridge

Explore the Early Detection and Diagnosis Primer Award