Imperial College and French research agency launch metabolism lab with AI focus
Imperial College London and France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) have launched a joint laboratory to study how metabolic processes vary between individuals and populations using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The Antoine Lavoisier International Research Laboratory will combine clinical data, advanced analytics, and experimental biology to investigate metabolic dysfunction in cancer, diabetes, cardiometabolic disease, and neurodegenerative conditions including dementia.
The lab opened at the British Embassy in Paris during a UK-France Joint Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation meeting. It represents Imperial's third International Research Laboratory with CNRS, following mathematics and engineering labs launched in 2018 and 2023 respectively.
Why metabolism matters for disease
Metabolic variation and dysfunction underpin multiple age-related diseases. By 2030, an estimated one billion people worldwide will live with obesity. Diabetes is projected to affect 1.3 billion people by 2050, with roughly 65 percent expected to die from cardiovascular or renal disease while facing elevated risks of stroke, dementia, and several cancers.
Researchers will use AI and machine learning to predict disease risk earlier, develop personalized treatments, investigate gut bacteria's role in disease, and create data-driven tools for healthcare systems.
Professor Mark Thursz, co-director from Imperial's Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, said: "This laboratory will help us understand these conditions more clearly by combining leading research with real-world patient data. By bringing these insights together, we aim to find new ways to prevent disease and develop more effective treatments that are tailored to individual patients."
Expanding UK-France research ties
The laboratory sits within the broader CNRS-Imperial International Research Centre for Transformational Science and Technology, designed to support long-term cooperation and researcher mobility between the UK and France.
Imperial publishes around 1,400 research papers annually with French partners and operates a joint PhD program with CNRS connecting researchers across quantitative disciplines.
Beyond the three international laboratories, Imperial and CNRS collaborate on research networks including LhARA, which applies particle physics to cancer therapies, and GOLDMINE, a sustainable computing network exploring nanoscale science.
For researchers working in AI for Science & Research or AI for Healthcare, this partnership demonstrates how machine learning integrates with experimental biology at scale.
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