Professor Dame Sue Hill
The United Kingdom (UK) has made an unprecedented investment in genomics and worked hard to embed this transformative technology into its healthcare infrastructure. How has this helped the UK improve health care delivery? How did genomics help the UK prepare for and work through the challenges of the pandemic? And what can Canada learn from this experience?
On Nov. 18, 2021, Genome BC was proud to present Professor Dame Sue Hill as the speaker for the 12th Annual Don Rix Distinguished Keynote Address to answer some of these questions. As the Chief Scientific Officer for England and Senior Responsible Officer for Genomics in NHS England and NHS Improvement, Sue established the NHS Genomic Medicine Centres and led the NHS contribution to the 100,000 Genomes Project.
Professor Dame Sue Hill DBE FMedSci FRSB FRCP(Hon) FRCPath (Hon) FHCS (Hon) is the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) for England, and the leading scientific authority for the wider healthcare system. A respiratory scientist by background, she has an international academic and clinical research reputation.
Dame Sue has a broad portfolio of policy, strategy and delivery responsibilities and has led a variety of major system and workforce transformation initiatives for the Government to improve patient outcomes and service effectiveness in the NHS and beyond. She is the Senior Responsible Officer for Genomics in the NHS driving the programme to introduce a nationwide and world leading Genomic Medicine Service transforming care pathways across a wide range of clinical conditions. This builds on her work in leading the NHS contribution to the 100,000 Genomes Project and aligns with her work on co leading the implementation of the GovernmentsGenome UK strategy .
Dame Sue played a major role in the national COVID-19 response programme (NHS Test and Trace); leading the development and deployment of testing technologies into use for the UK population, introducing the validation of new testing technologies, and leading a globally recognised programme for whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2.
Dame Sue was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the 2018 in recognition of her contribution to genomics and to the establishment of the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, and in 2020, she was named one of The 80 Most Influential People in English NHS and health policy.