Alison Noble CBE FRS FREng

Professor Alison Noble CBE FRS FREng FIET is the Technikos Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Engineering Science and a Professorial Fellow of St Hilda’s College at the University of Oxford. She is a former Director of the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering and former Associate Head (Industry Partnerships and Innovation) of Oxford’s Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) Division.

Her research lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computer vision and clinical medicine. She is internationally recognised for pioneering work in medical imaging, particularly ultrasound imaging, machine learning, and human-AI collaboration in healthcare. Her research spans next-generation ultrasound technologies, multimodal imaging, data-driven healthcare innovation, and global health applications in partnership with researchers and clinicians in Africa and India.

Professor Noble has led several major research programmes. In 2016, she was awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant, PULSE (Perception Ultrasound by Learning Sonographer Experience), exploring how multi-modal machine learning can transform ultrasound imaging. In 2023, she received a UKRI Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellowship focused on human-AI collaboration and federated learning for global healthcare imaging partnerships.

Alongside her biomedical engineering research, Professor Noble has a strong interest in science and AI policy. She chaired the working group behind the Royal Society’s 2024 report on Science and AI and is the MPLS Division Director of the Oxford-UBS Applied AI Centre, which advances the application of AI in the financial sector.

Her contributions to engineering and healthcare technologies have been recognised by national and international honours, including the Royal Society Gabor Medal, the BMVA Distinguished Researcher Award, the MICCAI Society Enduring Impact Award, and the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering’s Laura Bassi Award. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study and a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the TUM Institute for Advanced Study in Germany.

Professor Noble has held several leadership roles in the international engineering and research community. She served as President of the MICCAI Society, chaired the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Strategic Advisory Team, served on the EPSRC Science, Engineering and Technology Board, and was a full member of the REF 2021 Engineering Subpanel. She is currently a Trustee of HDRUK, and Vice President and Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society.

Throughout her career, Professor Noble has combined academic excellence with innovation and entrepreneurship. She was co-founder, director, and senior consultant to Intelligent Ultrasound, a University of Oxford spin-out specialising in AI-enabled ultrasound technologies. The company became a division of Intelligent Ultrasound PLC and was subsequently sold to GE Healthcare in 2024.

Professor Noble was appointed an OBE in 2013 for services to science and engineering and a CBE in 2023 for services to engineering and biomedical imaging. She was recently featured in Oxford’s Women in AI series, highlighting her leadership and contributions to AI research and innovation, and leads the Noble Group.