Researchers at Oxford University gained access to Dawn, one of the UK's most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers, in august. The next phase of the project will be funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).

The UK Cancer Vaccine AI & Supercomputing Project brings together doctors, cancer scientists, AI experts, robotics engineers, and manufacturing specialists. Doctor Lennard Lee, an oncologist and the project lead, stated that scientists can now advance much faster in developing personalized medicine.

Vaccine research lab. Illustration: Vecteezy.

At the core of the project is CIARA, an "AI scientist" platform designed to analyze tumor biological characteristics, coordinate laboratory experiments, and support the development of personalized cancer vaccines. The research team is building bio-AI models using UK sovereign AI systems, including the two supercomputers, Dawn and Isambard-AI. According to Oxford University, these supercomputers enable researchers to analyze vast amounts of cancer and immunology data at a scale previously unachievable by conventional university computer systems.

The funding from the MRC will support subsequent steps, including: acquiring equipment for the production of experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) cancer vaccines; verifying if AI predictions are accurate on patient samples; and determining whether AI-selected vaccine targets can generate robust immune responses against cancer.

Van Ha (Source: BBC)