The Genetics Revolution, Made Real: Professor Sir Peter Donnelly, Genomics

Professor Sir Peter Donnelly has spent a career at the frontier of human genetics, and he has used that position to pursue an ambitious and increasingly realisable goal: the prevention of common chronic disease at population scale. Few scientists of his standing have chosen to leave academia at its peak to build the commercial infrastructure needed to turn their research into healthcare reality. Peter did exactly that, and the implications for patients, for the NHS and for the UK's life sciences sector are profound.

His academic record is exceptional. A Rhodes Scholar, appointed to a professorial chair at 29, he led the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the largest study of the genetic basis of common diseases at the time of its publication, involving over 60,000 participants across more than 20 conditions. He led the genotyping of UK Biobank, pioneered whole genome sequencing in clinical medicine through the WGS500 project, and helped lay the groundwork for the NHS 100,000 Genomes project. His papers have been cited more than 100,000 times.

In 2014, Peter co-founded Genomics and subsequently stepped down as Director of the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics to lead it as CEO. His conviction was that the science of genomic risk prediction had matured to the point where it could change how healthcare works, shifting the emphasis from treatment to prevention. Under his leadership, Genomics has built the world's largest harmonised genotype-phenotype data resource, developed the UK's first UKCA-marked and MHRA-registered polygenic risk score products, and secured its position as the exclusive PRS provider for Our Future Health, the UK's largest health research programme. A clinical trial embedding polygenic risk scores within NHS primary care workflows has demonstrated that the technology works not just in research settings, but in real GP surgeries with real patients.

The potential scale of impact is striking. Research published in Nature Communications has shown that PRS-guided screening across seven common diseases could identify more than a quarter of the adult population as being at high genetic risk for at least one condition. In cardiovascular disease alone, the technology could identify 1.9 million additional high-risk individuals and prevent over 45,000 heart attacks and strokes across a decade, saving the NHS more than £235 million in the process. The NHS has now committed in its 10 Year Plan to rolling out polygenic risk score technology by 2035, the direct result of sustained advocacy by Peter and the Genomics team.

Named among Britain's fastest-growing private tech companies in both the 2025 and 2026 Sunday Times 100Tech rankings, Genomics is a company built on decades of scientific rigour, a clear-eyed understanding of what it takes to scale technology through a complex health system, and a leader who was willing to take the risk that translating world-class science into world-changing healthcare required.

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Professor Sir Peter Donnelly

CEO, Genomics

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Professor Sir Peter Donnelly

CEO, Genomics

Nomination reason:

Peter was nominated for a career spent turning genetic science into population-scale preventive healthcare technology, culminating in the NHS committing in its 10 Year Plan to roll out polygenic risk score (PRS) technology by 2035. As CEO of Genomics, he led the development of the UK's first MHRA-registered PRS products, secured the company's position as exclusive PRS provider for Our Future Health, and demonstrated through a successful NHS clinical trial that the technology works in real GP surgeries with real patients. Research published in Nature Communications projects that PRS-guided screening could prevent more than 45,000 heart attacks and strokes over a decade, saving the NHS over £235 million, a measure of the scale of impact his work is on course to deliver.

 

Biography:

Professor Sir Peter Donnelly FRS, FMedSci, HonFIA, is the CEO and co-Founder of Genomics. He has been a world leader in human genetics for over 20 years. Peter was one of the main players in what has been called the “Genetic Revolution”, the transformation in our knowledge of how genetics plays into all the common diseases, like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. He held leadership roles in many of the major international and national human genetics studies of this century, including the HapMap Project (the successor to the Human Genome Project) and the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. 

Peter founded Genomics in 2014 to change how the world predicts, prevents, treats, and cures disease, powered by the extraordinary scientific discoveries on the genetic basis of human illness made by world-leading scientists and engineers. He wanted to bring the company’s innovation to partners who can join our mission to help people live longer healthier lives, as soon as possible. 

Prior to Genomics, Peter was a Rhodes Scholar and became the youngest full professor in the UK at age 29. He has received numerous awards and accolades, and several of his papers are considered classics, with tens of thousands of citations. 

Peter was Knighted in 2019 for this work in genomics and has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society of Human Genetics. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, as well as an Honorary Fellow of The Institute of Actuaries. 

His TED Talk on statistics has been viewed 1.5 million times, and Peter was ranked 4th on a list of Top 10 Inspiring Entrepreneurs. 

Genomics has been listed on The Sunday Times 100 Tech, ranking Britain’s fastest-growing private technology companies, for two consecutive years, in 2025 and 2026.

 

 

To read more about the techUK President's Awards, visit our page here. Winners will be announced at the techUK Annual Dinner on 30 June.

Read more about our President's Award finalists: 

People Award

• Bringing Technology and Purpose Together: Fiona Dawson, Mayden
• Building a Future Where Disability Is No Barrier to Movement: Dr Malik Haddad, Northeastern University London
• Protecting People Online, at Scale: Robin Tombs, Yoti

Society Award

• Protecting Communities Through Intelligence: Clare Elford, Clue Software
• Putting Human Safety at the Centre of Technology: Dr Laura Bishop, British Standards Institution
• Connected Data, Public Value: Vishal Marria, Quantexa

Economy Award

• From Strategy to Production: Steve Chan, Stealth Labs
• Making Technology Work for Small Business: Laura Burley, Xero
• The Genetics Revolution, Made Real: Professor Sir Peter Donnelly, Genomics

Planet Award

• Sustainability by Design: Ray Knight, Atos
• Turning Buildings into Efficiency Engines: Javier Benitez, Colt Technology Services
• Technology in Service of Nature: Isobel Ashbey, Cambridge Consultants