Partnership with Professor Sotirios Tsaftaris of the University of Edinburgh furthers Canon Medical Research Europe’s AI capabilities, increases funding, and expands headcount
Canon Medical Research Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon Medical Systems Corporation, has been awarded the Inward Investment Impact Award at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards for its partnership with the University of Edinburgh.
The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards celebrate collaborations between businesses, third sector, and public sector organisations, and academia. Now in its tenth anniversary year, this annual event recognises and rewards outstanding partnerships that deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits to Scotland. The Inward Investment Impact Award specifically recognises collaborations between Scottish academic institutions and businesses based outside Scotland, where the partnership has led to inward investment, having tangible impacts on the Scottish economy.
In 2019, Canon Medical Research Europe partnered with Professor Sotirios Tsaftaris, Chair in Machine Learning and Computer Vision at the University’s School of Engineering, to further develop its core capabilities in Artificial Intelligence (AI). While modern AI has the potential to transform healthcare, improve staff efficiency, and enhance patient outcomes, it also carries significant risk. Canon Medical Research Europe sought an academic partner to serve as a critical sounding board, foster new ideas, elevate ambitions, and help bring in external expertise and funding to share the associated risks.
The collaboration with Professor Tsaftaris has contributed to increased inward investment and an expansion of Canon Medical’s Edinburgh-based team, which now employs 125 people. The partnership has also supported Canon Medical Japan in advancing its expertise and managing risk in the application of AI to healthcare. Canon Medical Research Europe has since joined the University’s new Causal AI in Healthcare (CHAI) Hub.
“We’re honoured to receive this recognition. Our collaboration with Professor Tsaftaris and the University of Edinburgh is instrumental helping us grow responsibly in a complex and fast-moving field,” said Ken Sutherland FREng FRSE, President and CEO of Canon Medical Research Europe. “The partnership also reflects our made for life commitment — pursuing innovation to support healthcare professionals and improve outcomes for patients.”
Canon Medical Research Europe operates as a research and development (R&D) services company exporting Scottish Innovation to Canon Medical Systems Corporation for product integration and then to the world. The company was originally a spin-out of University of Edinburgh in 1994. The company’s team of computer scientists, software engineers, and researchers work with some of the most eminent medical professionals in their fields to develop transformative deep learning imaging technologies, amongst other innovations.
To learn more about Canon Medical Research visit https://research.eu.medical.canon/.