UK and France launch biomedical and AI health alliance to accelerate research into major diseases
May 29, 2026
A new partnership will unite expertise, infrastructure and data across borders to accelerate diagnosis, treatment and ultimately prevention of major diseases – starting with women’s health, infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness.
- Dr Jean Susini, Director General, Synchrotron SOLEIL. Sir Thomas Drew KCMG, His Majesty’s Ambassador to France. Professor Richard Cornall, Head of the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford. Professor Matthieu Resche-Rigon, Dean of the Health Faculty, Université Paris Cité. Jean-Luc Moullet, Director General for Research and Innovation, French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space. Dr Martin Walsh, Interim Director of Life Sciences, Diamond Light Source. Dr Odette Tomescu-Hatto, Director of International Affairs, Institut Pasteur.
Diamond Light Source, the University of Oxford, Université Paris Cité, the Institut Pasteur and Synchrotron SOLEIL have signed a landmark agreement establishing a major new UK-France scientific alliance designed to strengthen how diseases are understood, diagnosed, treated and ultimately prevented.
The partnership comes at a time when advances in science and technology are generating unprecedented amounts of biological and clinical data, as well as transforming our understanding of human health. But turning that information into faster diagnoses, better treatments and improved disease prevention remains a major challenge across disciplines, institutions and national systems.
The UK–France Strategic Biomedical Alliance in Health and AI has been established to address that challenge by connecting world-leading expertise and national infrastructure into a single collaboration. The interdisciplinary model will unite clinical research, molecular biology, engineering, advanced imaging, data science, artificial intelligence and translational medicine across both countries, making it faster and easier for researchers to connect the technologies, expertise and data needed to tackle complex disease.
The alliance establishes a new interdisciplinary approach to linking infrastructure, data and biomedical science, combining discovery research with clinical expertise and advanced imaging at national scale. This includes the advanced imaging infrastructure of the UK’s Diamond Light Source and France’s Synchrotron SOLEIL, Oxford’s expertise in basic science, structural biology, infectious diseases, translational medicine and global health data science; Université Paris Cité’s interdisciplinary health research capabilities; the Institut Pasteur’s leadership in infectious diseases and pathogen biology.
Together, the partners will support research spanning molecular science through to population health and pandemic preparedness. The alliance will operate a series of programmes looking at the most pressing global health challenges. This includes women’s health, focusing on conditions that remain underdiagnosed or poorly understood, such as endometriosis and pregnancy-related complications. They will also look at pandemic preparedness, improving our understanding of emerging infectious diseases and strengthening resilience against future health threats. Another area of research will be pathogenic threats and antimicrobial resistance, accelerating detection, monitoring and understanding of resistant organisms and emerging pathogens.
Professor Gianluigi Botton, Chief Executive of Diamond Light Source, said: “This collaboration represents an exciting step forward in harnessing the full potential of advanced synchrotron imaging, data and AI in healthcare. By strengthening links between UK and French research communities, we are creating new opportunities to better understand disease, accelerate innovation and improve patient care. Diamond is delighted to support this shared ambition to deliver scientific breakthroughs that will have a lasting global impact.”
The Memorandum of Understanding establishing the Alliance was signed at the Executive Committee (COMEX) meeting in France this week by representatives from Diamond Light Source, the University of Oxford, Université Paris Cité, the Institut Pasteur and Synchrotron SOLEIL, marking a major new chapter in scientific collaboration between the UK and France.
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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