Doctors are joining forces with AI in the fight against cancer

21 May 2026

The research team from the Digital Life research group and the Netherlands Cancer Institute have been selected for ZonMw funding. How can doctors and artificial intelligence (AI) work together more effectively to improve cancer care? With this question as its starting point, the research project ‘Collaborative Intelligence: Doctor-AI Collaborations for Oncological Treatment Planning and Monitoring’ will be carried out over the next four years. Professor Somaya Ben Allouch and Associate Professor Bin Yu from the Digital Life research group are working closely on this with the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). The University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the ELSA Lab Health Inequity are also project partners.

Working together effectively

The project focuses on developing ‘collaborative intelligence’: effective collaboration between doctors and AI in the field of oncology. AI is already capable of quickly and accurately detecting, localising and monitoring tumours based on medical scans. However, this technology is still used only to a limited extent in clinical practice.

That is striking, particularly given that radiologists face high workloads, staff shortages and an increased risk of burnout. Many tasks in oncological imaging, such as preparing radiotherapy plans, are essential, but also repetitive and mentally taxing.

‘Through this research, we aim to improve collaboration between clinicians and AI in oncological imaging. To achieve this, it is important to make the collaboration between clinicians and AI more intuitive and effective. The aim of the research is ultimately to achieve better collaboration between humans and AI, enabling faster, safer and more reliable decisions, and thereby contributing to better patient care.’
Somaya Ben Allouch, professor Digital Life
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Relevance to everyday practice

A key objective of the project is therefore not only to develop smart AI, but also to design applications that are well suited to everyday practice in hospitals. The focus is on human-AI interaction: how can we ensure that technology actually supports doctors, rather than creating extra work or uncertainty?

The consortium, comprising the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) and the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), is one of 31 research teams to receive funding under the ZonMw Open Competition, from a total budget of over 26 million euros. The competition is known for its fierce competition, which makes the award and high rating of this project all the more remarkable.