In May 2021, the Milner Institute launched a rapid response data analysis call. The call sought collaborative project proposals from CRUK Cambridge Centre researchers and clinicians with multiomic oncology data sets that would benefit from interrogation using advanced computational research approaches including machine learning.

Two complementary projects were selected, each focusing on different aspects of renal cell carcinoma, and in this interview Dr Tom Mitchell tells us how things had gone, identifies lessons learned along the way, and describes how these results will inform his research.

About Tom's project:
Dr Tom Mitchell (Wellcome Sanger Institute/Addenbrooke’s Hospital/Department of Surgery and member of the Urological Malignancies Programme) led one of the projects, which had a focus on uncovering pathways that allow tumours to escape the physical and immune constraints of their microenvironment. The project aimed to identify potential therapeutic targets that might slow tumour growth at the tumour interface or that might shift the balance of immunogenicity away from immune tolerance.