Projects and Programmes

The AHSC is focussing its efforts on areas and activities where there is academic strength and capability in the partnership, health needs in North West London (and beyond) and opportunities for impact.

Aligning with the national focus on treatment to prevention, hospital to community and analogue to digital, the AHSC is developing and delivering initiatives with a two-to-three-year timeframe. 

Four common threads: health equity, productivity, environmental sustainability and precision medicine are embedded in these AHSC work programmes.

Obesity prevention

Obesity is a major public health concern in the UK. It is estimated that around one in four adults and one in every five children aged 10 to 11 are living with obesity.

In adults, obesity is associated with conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

The AHSC’s obesity project brings together academic experts with NHS Trust, Integrated Care System and Imperial College Health Partners stakeholders to help support commissioning and clinical decision making on the most effective interventions for obesity and cardiometabolic conditions such as stroke and heart attacks. This work includes consideration of new drugs such as GLP-1 receptor agonists.

Early diagnosis of cancer

One in two people will develop some type of cancer during their lifetime.

Early cancer detection can significantly improve the chances of successful treatments and long-term survival. 

The AHSC is focussing on early detection and diagnosis of cancers and is building capabilities to do this through the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre, Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research Unit (CEPRU) – collaborations between Imperial College London and The Institute of Cancer Research – and the two National Institute for Health and Care Research Centres at Imperial College London and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research.

Imperial and The Institute of Cancer Research have extensive experience of harnessing knowledge and expertise across different scientific disciplines to develop and evaluate new disease detection tools and diagnostic approaches. The AHSC will draw upon this capability to support North West London Integrated Care System’s cancer programmes, as well as trial and roll-out promising tools and capability developed within the AHSC partnership.

Healthcare productivity, operational management and system transformation

Service transformation and increased productivity are priorities in the NHS 10-year Plan.

Within the Imperial AHSC, predominantly the Imperial Business School, there is an expanding portfolio of academic expertise in areas such as health economics, organisational and behavioural change, workforce effectiveness and operational efficiency, that can be applied to the NHS priority areas.

Imperial AHSC is supporting a programme that connects this academic expertise with local NHS operational challenges. The aim is to use insights from health economics, organisational and behavioural science, workforce research and operations management to drive practical improvements in healthcare delivery and operational efficiency.

Clinical Academic Careers

Attracting and developing staff across all partners is a major programme of work and a key strategic objective for the AHSC, particularly for those involved in clinical academic research. The AHSC aims to bring together scientists, healthcare professionals and other staff from a wide range of disciplines, professions and backgrounds to excel in both research and clinical care.

To increase opportunities to engage in clinical academic research, the AHSC is leading a programme of activities designed to strengthen the clinical academic career pipeline and encourage clinicians to participate in research.

In 2025, the AHSC launched a new Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for Doctors to address the “career cliff edge” that many experience after completing their clinical training.

In 2026, the focus is on:

  • Continuing to raise awareness of the benefits of a clinical academic career, and
  • Providing comprehensive support for Nurses, Midwives, Allied Health Professionals, Healthcare Scientists, Pharmacy staff and Psychologists (NMAHPPs).

Digital

Shifting from Analogue to Digital is one of the 3 shifts in the NHS 10 year plan and a major strategic priority for the Imperial AHSC.

Imperial AHSC is delivering a number of projects and programmes to capitalise on the data and informatics capabilities across North West London, leverage the possibilities of using routinely collected ‘Real World Data’ (RWD) outside of clinical trials, and maximise on the benefits of technological advances to inform disease prevention and early diagnosis interventions. 

The AHSC’s priority is to enhance these digital assets for research and direct care by:

  1. Increasing the richness and coverage of data accessible through its iCARE and WSIC informatics platforms, working with NHS and other stakeholders in North West London and beyond.
     
  2. Bringing together triallists, clinicians, scientists, data platform leaders and others to share learning and experience in using RWD to improve clinical decision-making, identify opportunities to design and deliver more RWD-based studies and ultimately develop a platform(s) for developing and evaluating AI algorithms using Real World Data.