Lesley Anderson

Professor Lesley Anderson holds a Personal Chair in Health Data Science at the University of Aberdeen where she serves as Interdisciplinary Institute Director for Health, Nutrition & Wellbeing. She maintains a part-time role as Deputy Director of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry. Her academic credentials include a PhD in Public Health (Queen's University Belfast, 2004), MPHe from University of Manchester (2006), BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science (QUB, 2001), and PGCHET (QUB, 2009).

Her research spans artificial intelligence evaluation in healthcare, cancer epidemiology, health data science, and global health initiatives. She established international collaborations across 5 continents and led the £25M Industrial Centre for AI in Digital Diagnostics (iCAIRD). Current work focuses on AI validation for medical imaging, myeloproliferative neoplasms etiology, and cancer detection in low-resource settings.

Publications demonstrate strong emphasis on: 1) AI/ML clinical translation (orthopedics, oncology), 2) Cancer biomarker discovery (liquid biopsy, HPV), 3) Population health analytics (cancer epidemiology, risk factors), and 4) Healthcare pathway optimization. Recent works show increased focus on AI implementation frameworks and multimodal data integration.

Major Awards:

• Data Driven Innovation Awards (2024-2025)
• Multiparty Collaboration Award (2022)
• STAR Recognition at QUB (2019-2020)
• BUPA Foundation Epidemiology Award (2005)
• Dr J.D. Williamson Prize (2007)

She currently supervises 5 PhD students in health data science/AI topics and has mentored 15+ doctoral candidates. Secured £6M+ in active grants including NIHR funding for early cancer detection technology (EDITH project) and Blood Cancer UK support for MPN genomics research. Leads the UK-wide MOSAICC study on myeloproliferative neoplasms etiology.

Directs research teams within the Aberdeen Centre for Health Data Science and maintains labs focused on AI validation and cancer epidemiology. Collaborates with NHS, industry partners (Kheiron Medical), and global research consortia including BEACON and OPTIMA.