Heather Turner

Heather Turner is a policy analyst in the biomedical science team at the PHG Foundation, where she focuses on integrating genomic technologies into healthcare to enhance diagnosis and treatment. Her recent work includes co-authoring the report Host genomics: lessons for infectious disease, which examines the role of host genomics in understanding infectious diseases and emphasizes the importance of considering both host and pathogen in disease research. She has also contributed to the Evaluation of polygenic score applications and has authored several policy briefings and blog articles on topics, such as long-read sequencing and opportunities of geroscience for better management of chronic diseases.

Heather developed an interest in policy while investigating the evidence for predicting risk for different genetic diseases in individuals with and without a family history, pertinent to the delivery of additional findings for the 100,000 Genomes Project. She later worked on the 100,000 Genomes Project supporting regional reporting of results, particularly for study participants diagnosed with cancer, gaining first-hand experience of the challenges involved in implementing novel diagnostic pathways at scale. Heather holds an MPhil in Genomic Medicine from the University of Cambridge and a BSc in Medical Science (Human Genomics) from the University of Exeter.