About Us

Dr Hilary Burton – Director

Hilary Burton is a public health physician who has shaped the Foundation’s work from its earliest beginnings. She believes strongly that genomic science can be used to bring about improvements in people's health across the world, and that public health practice should play an important part in making this happen.

Hilary leads the strategic development of the Foundation, and directs its programmes of work that combine scientific and ethical, legal and social issues with public health and clinical content.

Hilary did her medical training at Oxford University and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine. She has worked on strategy development in various areas of public health medicine including disabilities, children's services, women's services, screening programmes, nutrition and cancer services. She has been working in the area of genetics and genomics since 1997, during which time she has developed considerable expertise in the ‘mainstreaming’ of genetics within various areas of clinical medicine in the UK. She has pioneered the use of needs assessment in this area and has written extensively about the strategic development necessary to underpin effective and efficient use of genetic technologies across clinical medicine.

Hilary is very interested in genetics education for health professionals, and led a strategic review of education in genetics for the UK's Department of Health in 2003. She has also established PHG Foundation as a high-quality training location for trainees in public health, and oversees our contribution to the University of Cambridge’s Masters in Public Health programme. She holds an Honorary Lectureship at the University of Cambridge.

Hilary's recently completed work includes a response to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Report on Genomic Medicine and a report on service development and integration of genetics and mainstream medicine for the UK Genetic Testing Network. She is currently involved with the Foundation’s two flagship projects: Action on birth defects and a multidisciplinary review on the use of whole genome sequencing for health.

Hilary is member of the Human Genomics Strategy Group, the Joint Committee on Medical Genetics (JCMG) of the Royal College of Physicians, the Council of the British Society for Human Genetics (BSHG), and the Clinical and Scientific Advisory Group of UK Genetic Testing Network.

She also serves as an observer for the Genetic Alliance, Senior Editor for PLoS Currents and is a fellow of Hughes Hall and the Faculty of Public Health.

Selected recent publications:

• Alberg C, Burton H, Hall A, Wright C, Zimmern R. Genomic Medicine: An independent Response to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Report (2011)
• Burton H. Genetics and mainstream medicine: Service development and integration (2011)
• Burton, H, Moorthy S. Expanded Newborn Screening (2010)
• Burton H, Alberg C, Hall A, Sagoo G, Stewart A, on behalf of the working group on inherited cardiovascular conditions services. Inherited cardiovascular conditions: the challenges of genomic medicine Heart (2010) 96: 474-76

Please visit PHG Foundation’s resources page for a list of our publications and other work by members of our staff.