CAMBRIDGE AI CLUB FOR BIOMEDICINE
The AI Club brings together the Biomedical AI and Machine Learning community in Cambridge, to discuss common themes and explore different topics and methodologies. The sessions open conversations to inform, inspire, and connect researchers at all levels, on topics within computational biology, AI and bioinformatics.
Each session has two talks, followed by an interactive discussion and networking. Talks will be focused on methods and cover the details that so often get hidden in the supplement. We welcome scientists from across Cambridge to join us on the first Thursday of the month, for talks, discussion, and networking over beer and pizza. Events take place in the Lecture Theatre, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Puddicombe Way, Cambridge CB2 0AW. No need to register in advance – just turn up!
The AI Club is a joint initiative, currently organised by Namshik Han’s group at the Milner Therapeutics Institute and Florian Markowetz’s group at Cancer Research UK. Susanne Bornelöv’s and Greg Hannon’s groups also support this initiative and we are welcoming everyone who wants to help, whatever lab/group/company they are from! If you are interested in getting involved in the committee, please email Hannah Bazin.
Next up
Theme: AI in Women’s Health
Date: 3 September
Times:
5.15pm – Doors (and bar)
5:30pm-6:30pm – Talks
6:30pm – Pizza and networking
Speakers:
Talk title: Building and Exploring Women’s Health Data at Scale.
Jonathan Griffiths is CTO at Cyclana Bio. Cyclana Bio is a Cambridge-based biotech startup developing treatments for endometriosis, focussing on the use of primary human tissue from the endometrium and menstrual fluid, and innovative cell culture mimetics of healthy and diseased human extracellular environments. Jonathan did his PhD with John Marioni, building one of the earliest large-scale single cell RNA-seq atlases, and subsequently worked at Genomics and Altos Labs, where he developed deep expertise in human genetics and machine learning. At Cyclana, Jonathan leads computational science and engineering. He will talk about the large-scale tissue biobank and data resource that Cyclana are producing, and their agentic AI platform for identifying genetically-supported drug targets and pathways for intervention in disease.
Talk title: Mapping gene expression in the female reproductive system to decipher gynaecological pathologies.
Celeste Cohen is a PhD researcher at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, co-supervised by Dr Roser Vento-Tormo and Dr Carl Anderson. She completed her MSci at UCL, where her Master’s research at the UCL Institute of Neurology and UK Dementia Research Institute (supervised by Dr Maryam Shoai and Prof John Hardy) focused on the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease progression. Her current research investigates gene regulation in the female reproductive system using single-cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq.
Future event dates can be viewed by clicking on the AI Club Schedule below.
AI Club Schedule (click to expand)
The AI Club takes place on the first Thursday of the month. Registration is not usually required for these events.
Next Events:
Date: 3 September 2026
Theme: AI in Women’s Health
Date: 1 October 2026
Theme: AI in Single-Cell Omics
Date: 5 November 2026
Theme: AI in Immunology
Date: 3 December 2026
Theme: AI in Life Science VC
Date: 4 February 2027
Theme: AI in Early Cancer Detection
Date: 4 March 2027
Theme: AI in Virtual Cell
Date: 1 April 2027
Theme: Agentic AI
Date: 6 May 2027
Theme: Benchmarking AI
Date: 3 June 2027
Theme: TBC
Times:
5.15pm – Doors (and bar)
5:30pm – 6:30pm – Talks
6:30pm – Pizza and networking
About the Organisers
“The AI Club is a joint initiative, currently organised by Namshik Han group at the Milner Therapeutics Institute, Florian Markowetz’s group at Cancer Research UK, Susanne Bornelöv’s group at the BioChemistry Department, Greg Hannon’s group at Cancer Research UK, and Sarah Teichmann’s group at the Stem Cell Institute. We welcome everyone who wants to contribute, regardless of their lab, group, or company affiliation.”
| Group Leader |
 Namshik HanMilner Therapeutics Institute |
 Florian Markowetz’sCancer Research UK |
 Sarah TeichmannCambridge Stem Cell Institute |
 Susanne BornelövCancer Research UK |
| Co-Chair |
 Hannah BazinMilner Therapeutics Institute |
 Jiwon KimMilner Therapeutics Institute |
| Other Organisers |
 Daniel Guerrero RomeroEBI/AstraZeneca |
 Ines MachadoCancer Research UK |
 Seokjun LeeMilner Therapeutics Institute |
 Anna Maria PapameletiouCancer Research UK |
 Chenge DuCancer Research UK CI |
 Hyun LeeMilner Therapeutics Institute |
 William XuMilner Therapeutics Institute |
 Yibin ChunMilner Therapeutics Instituted |
Heart & Lung Research Institute
|
Cancer Research UK
|
 Jaesub ParkMilner Therapeutics Institute |
|
About the Organisers
“The AI Club is a joint initiative, currently organised by Namshik Han group at the Milner Therapeutics Institute, Florian Markowetz’s group at Cancer Research UK, Susanne Bornelöv’s group at the BioChemistry Department, Greg Hannon’s group at Cancer Research UK, and Sarah Teichmann’s group at the Stem Cell Institute. We welcome everyone who wants to contribute, regardless of their lab, group, or company affiliation.”
| Group Leader |
| Namshik Han Milner Therapeutics Institute |
Florian Markowetz’s Cancer Research UK |
| Sarah Teichmann Cambridge Stem Cell Institute |
Susanne Bornelöv Cancer Research UK |
| Co-Chair |
| Hannah Bazin Milner Therapeutics Institute |
Jiwon Kim Milner Therapeutics Institute |
| Other Organisers |
| Daniel Guerrero Romero EBI/AstraZeneca |
Ines Machado Cancer Research UK |
| Seokjun Lee Milner Therapeutics Institute |
Anna Maria Papameletiou Cancer Research UK |
| Chenge Du Cancer Research UK CI |
Hyun Lee Milner Therapeutics Institute |
| William Xu Milner Therapeutics Institute |
Yibin Chun Milner Therapeutics Instituted |
|
Heart & Lung Research Institute
|
Cancer Research UK
|
| Jaesub Park Milner Therapeutics Institute |
|
Feedback
We welcome suggestions / ideas / feedback on the club. Please get in touch via this form.
Venue and Accessibility Information
The Lecture Theatre is located on the ground floor of the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, next to the reception desk. There is step-free access from the building entrance to the Lecture Theatre. There is also step-free access to the ground floor toilet facilities, which are located next to the vending machines in the building cafe. The Lecture Theatre is equipped with a hearing loop.
Directions to the JCBC
Accessiblity information on AccessAble
