Double success for Essex in Times Higher Awards shortlist

University of Essex staff are celebrating after being shortlisted in two categories of the Times Higher Education Awards 2026 - known as 'the Oscars of Higher Education.

Trailblazing technician Chris Spice is up for Technician of the Year and the SKINTEL® research project is in the running for Research Project of the Year: STEM.

SKINTEL® shortlisted for Research Project of the Year: STEM

Essex researchers have worked with Check-4-Cancer to develop SKINTEL, an AI-assisted tool designed to improve skin cancer detection amid rising cases, a shortage of dermatologists, and long NHS waiting lists.

Led by Dr Haider Raza and Professor Gordon Wishart, the project analysed more than 79,000 skin lesions using dermoscopic images and patient data collected since 2015.

The team identified seven key risk factors, including age, family history, and hair colour, and combined these into a novel skin cancer risk score. Adding this score to image analysis improved the AI model's specificity by 11%, helping reduce false positives.

SKINTEL can detect suspicious lesions with 99% accuracy, enabling earlier diagnosis while reducing unnecessary recalls, biopsies, and follow-up appointments.

Dr Raza, from the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, said: "I am absolutely delighted that SKINTEL® has been shortlisted for the Times Higher Education STEM Research Project of the Year Award. What makes this recognition particularly special is that the project demonstrates how academic AI research can be translated into technology with the potential to make a real difference to patients.

Through our partnership with Check4Cancer and support from Innovate UK, we have brought together AI expertise, clinical knowledge and real-world data to develop a system capable of supporting faster and more effective skin cancer triage.

"This recognition belongs to the entire team, particularly Dr Shafiqul Islam, Professor Gordon Wishart, and Professor John Gan, whose contributions have been instrumental to the project's success. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved together and excited about the next stage of translating this research into wider clinical impact."

Professor Gordon Wishart, CEO of Check4Cancer and Visiting Professor at Essex, added: "At Check4Cancer, we recognised at an early stage that clinicians should be involved in the development of medical AI and, together with our large curated dataset of images and clinical metadata, our partnership with the University of Essex has delivered a high-performance AI model for skin cancer detection that can help mitigate the global shortages of dermatologists".

Chris Spice shortlisted for Technician of the Year

Chris Spice exemplifies a high-impact technical leader whose vision, expertise and commitment have transformed research, education and knowledge exchange at Essex and beyond.

As a senior member of the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences leadership team, he aligned technical capability with strategic priorities, securing significant funding for research infrastructure and delivering a major system on time and within budget.

He also redesigned laboratory space to increase utilisation by nearly 300 hours per term and create capacity for growth, outreach and recruitment activities.

Beyond his School, Chris has driven sector-leading improvements in recognition and inclusion through the Technician Commitment, influencing policy, REF guidance and staff visibility. Through the groundbreaking T-PIKE programme, where he is Co-Investigator, he has delivered impactful development, knowledge exchange and sustainability initiatives while mentoring emerging leaders.

He said: "Like thousands of other technical staff across higher education, I never really considered my work out of the ordinary and in fact in many ways I am just grateful for opportunity to do such a fulfilling and rewarding job.

"So it's a huge honour to think that others have valued it enough to nominate me for the award, let alone be shortlisted alongside all the incredible individuals who are embody the fantastic technical resources we have across the UK.

"I'm hugely grateful to the Technician Commitment, both at University of Essex and nationally for the visibility, recognition and opportunities it is giving technical staff, and the support of those in the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences and the Faculty of Science & Health without whom I'd never have had the opportunities to do all the things I have over my career.

"Special thanks should go to Professor Edward Codling, Jenna Hopkins and Professor Nelson Cortes for their constant support and encouragement."