Anna Middleton is a social scientist and genetic counsellor. She is Associate Director for Engagement and Society within Wellcome Connecting Science, based on the Wellcome Genome Campus. She is also the Director of the Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science, and the Public at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Education

Middleton completed her undergraduate studies in genetics at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

, before undertaking a MSc in Genetic Counselling at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. She completed a PhD at the School of Psychology and Research School of Medicine at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 2000. Her PhD is in genetics and psychology, and explored the attitudes of

Deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

adults and hearing parents of deaf children towards issues surrounding

genetic testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

for deafness. Anna was the first person to publish empirical data on the attitudes of

parents towards using pre-natal testing for deafness, with the preference for having deaf children.Middleton A, Hewison J, Mueller RF (1998) Attitudes of deaf adults toward genetic testing for hereditary deafness. ''Am J Hum Genet'' 63 (4):1175-80. Society and Ethics Research group website
/ref> Middleton obtained her registration as a Genetic Counsellor with the Genetic Counselling Registration Board UK and Republic of Ireland in 2003.

Career and research

Middleton joined the Sanger Institute in 2010, contributing ethics input into the Deciphering Developmental Disorders project by gathering public perspectives on the return of results from genome sequencing research.
/ref> In 2015 Anna founded the Society and Ethics Research group, which is part of Wellcome Connecting Science.Wellcome Connecting Science website
/ref> Anna and the group are interested in a range of issues relating to genomics and its relationship with society. They are undertaking research on public attitudes to genomic data sharing;Your DNA Your Say
/ref> how to communicate genomic concepts to patients;Music of Life project
/ref> and the duty of care and the duty of confidentiality in the context of medically relevant genetic information.Middleton A, Milne R, Robarts L, Roberts J, Patch C (2019) Should doctors have a legal duty to warn relatives of their genetic risks? ''Lancet'' 394 (10215):2133-2135. ABC vs St George's NHS Trust project
/ref> Anna acted as an advisor on genomics and ethics to the 2019 Topol Review, an independent report commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on preparing the NHS healthcare workforce for the digital future, including genomics, AI and robotics. She was Chair of the Oversight Group for

Genomics England Genomics England is a company wholly owned by the United Kingdom's Department of Health and Social Care. Established in 2013, it was tasked with delivering the 100,000 Genomes Project, a pioneering initiative that sequenced 100,000 genomes fro ...

's 2019 report on 'A Public Dialogue on Genomic Medicine'.

Honours and awards

Middleton was the Chair of the Association of Genetic Nurses and Counsellors (2018-2019) and Vice-Chair prior to this, having first been elected to the Committee in 2014. She was also Vice-Chair of the Genetic Counselling Registration Board (2007-2009) and an elected member of the Board prior to this (2004-2010).

Media work

Anna has undertaken extensive print and broadcast media work, including appearance on

Channel 4 news ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, and in the Guardian.Channel 4 News
/ref>BBC Radio 4 Inside Health
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Anna Living people Genetic counsellors 21st-century British social scientists Alumni of Newcastle University Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of Leeds Year of birth missing (living people) Academics of the University of Cambridge