2026 Agenda

The last five years have seen an explosion of a new generation of spatial “omics” technologies, that allow the detailed measurement of the molecular makeup of cells in situ, preserving the tight network of tissue interactions that are essential for function. T 

hese datasets have proven to be essential in understanding both normal physiology and pathology in many cases, including significant outputs in cancer research. 

However, many barriers still exist to the widespread adoption of spatial omics technologies at scale, and these often limit the field potential in truly fulfilling its promise to revolutionise both basic and translational research. Technology development is also still a crucial requirement. 

Leveraging our work on one of the first generation Cancer Grand Challenge projects, we established the Spatial Profiling and Annotation Centre of Excellence (SPACE) in Cambridge. SPACE is a collaborative laboratory focused on lowering the barrier to adoption to new methods in spatial biology, and to multiply the impact from their application by working together with both academic and industrial partners to push technology development and apply mature technologies at scale. 

In this presentation I will describe the inception of SPACE, its structure and resources, and give some examples of early outputs from some of our collaborations