The Disease Atlas could radically change patient care and how we think about and research disease. The programme sets out an ambitious approach to systematically define and compare all common and rare diseases within a population-level, data-driven framework.

Using newly available linked health data corresponding to 56 million people in England, our goal is to generate entirely new insights across the spectrum of human disease to advance research, inform healthcare policy, and improve clinical outcomes for patients.

The Disease Atlas is at the forefront of health data science and is a collaborative effort involving patients, clinicians and researchers. The programme builds on the expertise and tools delivered by the Human Phenome Programme, and works alongside the Research Driver Programmes to deliver maximum impact across health research, medical care and innovation. We plan to engage new partners and seek opportunities for growth through external funding and commercialisation.

    • Generate systematic, data-driven knowledge across all common and rare diseases using linked, nationwide data from electronic health records
    • Generate insights, for each disease, from public data including research publications, registered clinical trials, genetic studies and charities
    • Discover new and comparative links between patient needs, healthcare, and various forms of research
    • Integrate fully with the Gateway and other services across the technology ecosystem

    Learn more about the Atlas on UCL’s Institute of Health Informatics research page

Programme leads

Spiros Denaxas Professor of Biomedical Informatics
Harry Hemingway
Harry Hemingway Professor of Clinical Epidemiology & Director of HDR UK London
Emily Jefferson Chief Technology Officer at HDR UK, Interim Director at DARE UK and Chair of Health Data Science

Explore our other Infrastructure Programmes