PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

David Clifton

David Clifton is an Oxford professor and clinical machine-learning researcher whose work brings AI into patient care. He developed anomaly-detection methods for jet engines and co-developed the SEND hospital early-warning score. He edited Machine Learning for Healthcare Technologies, received the IEEE Early Career Award in 2022, and became Oxford's Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Clinical Machine Learning and an NIHR Research Professor in December 2022. He leads the CHI Lab, where AI work includes DrugGPT and a multimodal model for infectious-disease research.

Now at
Oxford–CityU Centre for Cardiovascular Engineering, University of Oxford, University of Manchester, Fudan University and Alan Turing Institute

Timeline

  1. 2009

    Engineering and jet engines

    An early science-fiction fan, he studies engineering, specialising in machine learning, at Oxford's Department of Engineering Science under Lionel Tarassenko. His doctoral research develops machine-learning methods to monitor complex systems; in 2009, his publications include work on aerospace-engine condition monitoring and jet-engine vibration.

  2. 2010–2014

    Patient monitoring and SEND

    In 2010, he coauthors a paper applying extreme-value theory to probabilistic patient monitoring and another about vital-sign abnormalities in critical care. As a postdoctoral researcher in Lionel Tarassenko's group, he co-develops the early-warning score used in SEND. By November 2014, he is a Royal Academy of Engineering University Fellow at Oxford's Institute of Biomedical Engineering, presenting work on mobile healthcare.

  3. 2016

    Editing a healthcare AI book

    In 2016, he edits Machine Learning for Healthcare Technologies, a collection on machine-learning research in patient monitoring, infectious disease, antibiotic resistance and chronic disease.

  4. 2018–2021

    CHI Lab in Suzhou and Vietnam

    The CHI Lab opens its second site in Suzhou in 2018. In 2019, a Wellcome flagship centre connects the lab with Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam. In 2021, Clifton co-directs the Oxford–CityU Centre for Cardiovascular Engineering, which opens in Hong Kong.

  5. 2022

    IEEE Early Career Award

    In 2022, he receives the IEEE Early Career Award for AI-based predictive tools and their deployment in medical practice with industry partners.

  6. December 2022

    Clinical machine-learning chair

    In December 2022, he becomes the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Clinical Machine Learning and a National Institute for Health and Care Research Research Professor at Oxford.

  7. 2025

    Oxford–GSK AI centre

    In 2025, the Oxford–GSK Centre for Biostatistics and AI is created, and the CHI Lab is one of its four contributing research groups.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and CHI Lab head

    As of October 2026, he is Professor of Clinical Machine Learning at Oxford and leads the CHI Lab. The lab focuses on non-imaging AI methods, including foundation models, time-series analysis, natural language processing, omics and sensor data. His group creates DrugGPT for clinical medicine recommendations; in August 2026, he works with Oxford and Vietnamese collaborators on PHENOM.AI, which develops an AI foundation model from multimodal clinical data to study pneumonia.

Career

  1. Since 2022University of OxfordRoyal Academy of Engineering Chair in Clinical Machine Learning, NIHR Research Professor
  2. NowOxford–CityU Centre for Cardiovascular EngineeringCo-Director
  3. NowUniversity of ManchesterVisiting Chair in AI for Health
  4. NowFudan UniversityFellow
  5. NowAlan Turing InstituteFellow
  6. 2020–2025Reuben CollegeOfficial Fellow in AI and Machine Learning

Education

  1. University of OxfordMEng
  2. University of OxfordDPhil

From the biography.

Checked career sources: eng.ox.ac.uk, oxford.shorthandstories.com, oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk, reuben.ox.ac.uk, ibme.ox.ac.uk.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. David Clifton - People - Engineering Science Department eng.ox.ac.uk. Checked 27 October 2026.
  2. Professor David Clifton: Transforming health services with the power of AI oxford.shorthandstories.com. Checked 27 October 2026.
  3. Publications - David A. Clifton robots.ox.ac.uk. Checked 27 October 2026.
  4. CHI lab: Previous Projects, Early Warning Scores eng.ox.ac.uk. Checked 27 October 2026.
  5. Oxford playing 'key role' in next generation of mobile healthcare oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk. Checked 27 October 2026.
  6. Machine Learning for Healthcare Technologies - Google Books books.google.com. Checked 27 October 2026.
  7. IEEE “Early Career Award” for 2022 awarded to David Clifton eng.ox.ac.uk. Checked 27 October 2026.
  8. Using AI to improve pneumonia care in Vietnam oucru.org. Checked 27 October 2026.