Baroness Nicola Blackwood, MPhil

Chair, Genomics England

Nicola Blackwood, Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford, an established leader in health innovation policy and entrepreneurship having over a decade of experience in the public and private sector. Nicola is Chair of Oxford University Innovation, and Genomics England, Trustee of the Alan Turing Institute, a Member of the Lords Science & Technology Select Committee, and Hon. Professor of Science and Public Policy at UCL.
She served as Minister for Innovation in the Department for Health and Social Care (UK) under two Prime Ministers. Her Ministerial portfolio covered Lifesciences, Mental Health, Data and Digital Transformation of the NHS, Cybersecurity, Brexit, Trade, Global Health Security and Public Health. Nicola remains the youngest ever select committee chair in British history and the only woman to have held in that position. Nicola’s career reflects an abiding belief that science, innovation and access are mission critical to solving our greatest global challenges.