PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Danail Stoyanov

Also known as Danail V. Stoyanov, Dan Stoyanov

Danail Stoyanov is a professor of robot vision who applies computer vision and AI to surgical robotics and minimally invasive care. He earned degrees at King’s College London and Imperial College London, then received a research fellowship spanning Imperial’s Hamlyn Centre and UCL’s medical imaging and computer science groups. He co-founded Odin Vision, received a Royal Academy of Engineering chair for AI-enabled robotic sensors, and later helped guide EnAcuity’s surgical imaging software. As of October 2026, he is a UCL professor, co-director of the Hawkes Institute, and director of OASIS.

Now at
University College London and Medtronic
Works
839
Citations
16,733
h-index
68
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2001–2009

    Degrees and research fellowship

    He earns a BEng from King’s College London in 2001 and a PhD from Imperial College London in 2006, then continues postdoctoral research at Imperial. In 2009, he receives a Royal Academy of Engineering/EPSRC Research Fellowship at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery and subsequently at UCL’s Centre for Medical Image Computing and Department of Computer Science.

  2. 2019

    Co-founding Odin Vision

    In 2019, he co-founds Odin Vision, a UCL spin-out developing medical devices powered by surgical AI for gastroenterology.

  3. 2020

    Chair in Emerging Technologies

    He receives a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies in 2020 to develop robotic surface structures with embedded sensors that adapt their shape and size through artificial intelligence algorithms.

  4. 2023

    A MICCAI Society fellowship

    He becomes a Fellow of the MICCAI Society in 2023 for contributions to computer-assisted interventions, medical robotics and computer vision for surgical scene understanding.

  5. July 2025

    AI for operating-room imaging

    In July 2025, he helps guide EnAcuity, a joint venture between Imperial College London and UCL, as it validates AI-powered image-processing software for operating rooms using surgical videos. The grant supports validation with surgery recordings from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

  6. December 2025

    Medtronic and MICCAI roles

    In December 2025, he is Professor of Robot Vision at UCL, co-director of the Hawkes Institute, and Chief Scientist for Digital Technologies at Medtronic. He serves on the MICCAI Society Board of Directors and co-chairs its Conference Affairs Working Group.

  7. As of October 2026

    OASIS and robot vision leadership

    As of October 2026, he is a Professor of Robot Vision at UCL, co-director of the Hawkes Institute, and director of OASIS. He leads the Surgical Robot Vision group, which develops surgical robotics and artificial intelligence for minimally invasive interventions.

Career

  1. Since 2011University College LondonResearch Fellow
  2. 2025–2026MedtronicChief Scientist for Digital Technologies
  3. From 2019Odin VisionCo-founder
  4. 2017–2026Wellcome Trust
  5. 2009Imperial College LondonPostdoctoral Researcher, Research Fellow
  6. 2004–2006Wolfson Foundation

Education

  1. 2006Imperial College LondonPhD
  2. 2001King's College LondonBEng

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Danail Stoyanov. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University College London. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes University College London. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University College London. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Danail Stoyanov yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Stoyanov Danail - GIFT-Surg wp1.cs.ucl.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Professor Danail Stoyanov FREng raeng.org.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Professor Danail Stoyanov FREng raeng.org.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. MICCAI Quarterly - Winter (December) 2025 miccai.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. AI-powered surgical imaging technology gets financial boost surgery.international. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. People — OASIS oasishub.org.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.