Impact
Published. Placed. Recognised. The record since 2023.
SPARK trainees have released open-source models, placed at international challenges, and earned scholarships, travel awards and mentorship recognition.
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Trainees
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Countries reached
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Cohorts
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Teams
Research output, 2023 to 2025
Work that leaves the classroom
Trainees publish their models openly, present them at leading conferences, and enter them into international challenges.
30+
AI models published, open source
Over 30 published models from 2023 to 2025. All open source, available on GitHub.
30+
Conference presentations
- MICCAI 2023, 2024, 2025
- ISMRM 2026
- Indaba 2024, 2025
- Regional and local events
1st
BraTS Lighthouse 2025
Team SPARK_Neuro-MICCAI 2025, Daejeon, Korea.
2ndtwice
BraTS Lighthouse 2025
Teams SPARK2025_SPARKANS and SPARK2025_Wakanda.
Trainee recognition, 2023 to 2025
Trainees and graduates, recognised
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30
MICCAI and ISMRM travel awards
SPARK trainees and graduates have received awards to attend local and international conferences.
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7
AFRICAI mentorship awards
Seven SPARK graduates recognised with AFRICAI mentorship awards.
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4
McGill Mobility Awards
Sponsored 4 experts to mentor SPARK participants from Canada to Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.
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2
UPenn MSE-D5 scholarship
Two SPARK graduates were awarded the UPenn Data Science scholarship in 2024.
Selected publications
Published in conference proceedings
Conference papers on brain tumour segmentation, medical image synthesis and early breast cancer detection in African populations. The papers are listed on Research & Publications.
Our reach
Countries covered, and counting
The map fills in as each cohort's records are added.
Year by year
Choose a year to see what happened
Each year of SPARK, from the first cohort in 2023 to the cohort under way now.
Accomplishments in 2023
Programme
The programme is established
A full-time programme coordinator designed the curriculum and established the programme.
Data
BraTS-Africa data curated
BraTS-Africa data was curated for skills training on local data.
Hackathon
2023 Brain Hackathon
The Brain Hackathon ran in 2023.
Research
MICCAI 2023
SPARK trainees presented at MICCAI 2023.
Recognition
MICCAI 2023 travel awards
Travel awards supported trainees to attend MICCAI 2023.
Accomplishments in 2024
Recognition
UPenn MSE-D5 scholarship
Two SPARK graduates were awarded the UPenn Data Science scholarship.
Recognition
MICCAI 2024 travel awards
Travel awards supported trainees to attend MICCAI 2024.
Research
MICCAI 2024 and Indaba 2024
SPARK trainees presented at MICCAI 2024 and at Indaba 2024.
Hackathon
Hackathon with PACE
A hackathon was run by PACE and SPARK.
Publication
Two conference papers
Two selected papers were first published online in December 2024. See the publications
Accomplishments in 2025
Competition
First place, BraTS Lighthouse 2025
Team SPARK_Neuro-MICCAI 2025, at MICCAI in Daejeon, Korea.
Competition
Second place, twice
Teams SPARK2025_SPARKANS and SPARK2025_Wakanda placed second at BraTS Lighthouse 2025.
Research
MICCAI 2025 and Indaba 2025
SPARK trainees presented at MICCAI 2025 and at Indaba 2025.
Publication
Four conference papers
Four selected papers were first published online, three in February and one in September. See the publications
Accomplishments in 2026
Cohort
34 teams
The 2026 cohort trains in 34 teams across the network.
Research
ISMRM 2026
SPARK trainees presented at ISMRM 2026.
Programme
Foundational course to Practicum II
The foundational course ran from February to April, the hackathon in May, Practicum I from May to July and Practicum II from July to August.
Ahead
SPARK-NEXT
SPARK-NEXT launches in October, followed by the end of year review and impact analysis in December.
What comes next
From results to a leadership track
SPARK-NEXT will provide a one-year advanced impact and leadership track for top SPARK trainees.