10 December 2018

Deciphex Successful in Securing €5.7m Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund Award

Deciphex in conjunction with a number of high profile academic and industry collaborators have secured a significant grant to pursue the use of AI in colorectal cancer diagnostics and treatment.

The project entitled: 'The Future of Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: Combining Tissue Responsive Probes, AI and Machine Learning to Transform Medical Care' is led by RCSI and Mater University Hospital, UCD in partnership with Deciphex and IBM Research.

This project, which has been awarded €5.7m, aims to transform the diagnosis and surgical treatment of Gastro-Intestinal (GI) diseases, specifically cancer, by allowing decision-support information to be available when needed for faster and more accurate interventions for patients. Applications will be developed in surgery and diagnostics using AI and machine learning.

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD have unveiled the 27 innovative projects who are sharing over €75 million in funding out to 2021 under the first tranche of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund. Over 300 applications were made under the first round. Successful projects have made it through a highly competitive process involving screening by a panel of international experts.

Announcing the successful projects at RCSI today, the Taoiseach said: “The creation of this fund is particularly timely when we consider the vast and rapid technological advancements that are taking place. Today everything is faster, more efficient, and more easily accessible. We must adapt to a future of greater digitalisation and automation. Today’s school children will be employed in jobs and industries that don’t exist yet. Technology will eliminate or transform existing occupations.

“We are currently developing a new Plan, the Future Jobs Initiative, to meet these challenges and ensure we assist industry to create and sustain good jobs for our people in light of future challenges and opportunities. The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund is central to the Future Jobs Programme. It’s our way of stimulating private investment in new technologies and ways of doing business, and building stronger links between higher education, multinationals and Irish SMEs.”