Timeline and milestones
The Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad
Southampton is leading a groundbreaking cancer vaccine programme, known as the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad. In 2025, the programme added head and neck, and skin cancer patients to the trials. 
UN appoint celebrated Southampton scientist to new AI body
Dame Wendy Hall, a Regius Professor of Computer Science from the University of Southampton and Director of its Web Science Institute, was selected from more than 1,800 nominees across 128 countries.
She joined 31 experts from across the world to undertake analysis and advance recommendations for the international governance of AI.
Responsible AI UK
Responsible AI UK (RAI UK), headed by the University’s Professor Gopal Ramchurn, won a £31M grant to help the UK become a global leader in AI. RAI UK will lead the national debate on the future of AI.
New ophthalmology expansion
University Hospital Southampton constructs a major new ophthalmology expansion to deal with the huge demand for eye care in the region. As a leading centre for ophthalmology, more than 100,000 patients attend appointments here each year.
Pandemic innovation
At the start of the pandemic, our medics and engineers worked together to develop a personal respirator to protect healthcare staff, now rolled out in over 20 NHS trusts.
We led COVID-19 vaccine trials which were key in the development of the AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines.
Our research underpinned the nationwide rollout of rapid COVID-19 tests in December 2020. These tests reduced diagnosis time from 21 hours to one hour 40 minutes, on average.
Southampton piloted a new ‘no-swab’ saliva test, which led the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to fund weekly saliva testing to identify asymptomatic cases of COVID-19
Changing the cancer landscape
Funded entirely by philanthropic donations, Southampton’s Centre for Cancer Immunology opened its doors. It was the UK’s first centre dedicated to cancer immunology research, bringing together leading scientists in the field – a pioneering space where teams were brought together to focus their expertise on a single challenge.
Life-saving engineering
In collaboration with Arterius Ltd, we designed a biodegradable stent to open blocked coronary arteries, which then disappears enabling the vessels to recover normal function.
Cancer antibodies
Southampton and Cancer Research UK scientists developed antibodies that were shown to attack neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer that grows from undeveloped tissue of the nervous system.
Changing the way we fight infection
StarStream®, a device that uses low volumes of cold water and few or no additives to clean, was invented. This technology has the potential to clear leaves from railway tracks, fight against antimicrobial resistance, and clean medical equipment in a cost-effective and efficient way.
New hope for dementia prevention
Southampton researchers uncover the Intramural Periarterial Drainage (IPAD) system, the brain’s hidden pathway for clearing toxic amyloid waste linked to dementia. Today, scientists are working to protect and restore this vital system, offering new hope for preventing dementia before it begins.
World-leading foetal scanning
Academics working on bubble acoustics co-authored the current guidelines for every foetal scan in the world – that’s around 700 million births to date.
DNA vaccines
One of the first DNA vaccines was developed in Southampton.
Cochlear implant success
The ISVR Hearing and Balance Centre fitted their first cochlear implant device. Since then, the now renamed University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service, has transformed the lives of more than 1000 people and their research has formed the basis of NHS guidelines.
Understanding asthma
Professor Steven Holgate and colleagues were the first to use fibre optic bronchoscopy to demonstrate the cellular mechanisms in asthma.
Fibre optic revolution
Professor Sir David Payne discovered the erbium-doped fibre amplifier which enabled the development of fibre optic broadband as we know it today.
Healthy babies
Professor David Barker discovered the relationship between birth weight and a lifetime of chronic disease, stimulating worldwide research into the impact of nutrition and growth in the development of adult disease.
Leukaemia milestone
Southampton became the first centre to use antibody treatments to remove leukaemia cells from the blood of patients.
Important origins
Southampton Medical school was opened on the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Medical Education. There were 40 students in the first cohort.
Early pioneers
Frederick Lanchester, the pioneer of automotive engineering, studied at the Hartley Institute (which is now the University of Southampton).
