By-Fellow
Laura Blackburn is Head of Science at PHG Foundation, a health policy unit at the University with a particular interest in the implementation of genomics and associated technologies into healthcare. She is responsible for the delivery of the scientific expertise and analysis that underpins the Foundation’s work and contributes to the development of its strategic partnerships with other organisations who have an interest in science and health policy.
Current projects include exploring the opportunities and challenges of using genomics and other technologies to deliver personalised medicine and what this entails for clinical genomics services; understanding the key implementation challenges influencing the use of circulating tumour DNA technologies and developing policies to mitigate these; and investigating the use of sequencing in the management of infectious diseases.
Laura has a PhD in Zoology from the University of Cambridge and extensive science writing and communication experience from previous roles including at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute. She joined the PHG Foundation as a policy analyst in 2014 and was appointed Head of Science in September 2018.
