Oliver is a PhD student in the Human Embryo and Stem Cell Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute in London. His research focuses on using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to understand the function of genes crucial for early development. By using CRISPR/Cas9, genes of interest can be disrupted and the effect of their loss on development can be studied.

Before joining the Crick, Oliver worked as a research assistant at the University of Sheffield Centre for Stem Cell Biology. Oliver obtained his BSc in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Sheffield, with a final year dissertation on the suitability of using CRISPR/Cas9 for treating muscular dystrophies.

Mark Sheehan is an Associate Professor and Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Ethics Fellow at the Ethox Centre in the Nuffield Department of Population Health. He is a National Research Ethics Advisor for the National Research Ethics Service and a member of numerous advisory boards and ethics committees, including the NICE’s Highly Specialised Technology Evaluation Committee.

His research projects include: (i) the nature and role of research ethics governance, (ii) consent and governance in population level research, (iii) trust and trustworthiness, (iv) patient and public involvement in healthcare research and policy, and (v) the ethics of public health policy interventions.

Professor Felicity Boardman is a social scientist based at Warwick Medical School specialising in the social and ethical aspects of genomics, particularly as these relate to reproduction. Her work focuses on the perspectives and insights offered by people living with genetic conditions and her current research explores the use of genetic technologies within existing newborn screening programmes. Felicity sits on the Foetal, Maternal and Child Health Reference Group of the UK National Screening Committee, and was also recently involved as an expert witness in the Public Dialogue on Whole Genome Sequencing for Newborn Screening (Genomics England).

Sara Levene is a Consultant Genetic Counsellor at the Centre for Reproductive & Genetic Health, leading the Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) service since 2017. Sara started her career in cancer genetics and general Genetic Counselling at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust in 1998, before becoming part of the PGD team there in 2008. Sara has a strong interest in population screening. She previously ran the Tay Sachs screening service at Guy’s hospital for the Jewish population, and now offers expanded pan-ethnic carrier screening at CRGH. Sara is Chair of the Association of Genetic Nurses & Counsellors and sits on the medical advisory panel of two charities.

Trevor Stammers was a GP for 30 years before becoming Associate Professor of Bioethics and Medical Law and Director of the Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies (CBET) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham until 2021.

He is Editor of The New Bioethics and his latest book, co-edited with Calum MacKellar, ‘The Ethics of Engendering Posthumans’ was published in 2022. His book on the ethics of organ donation is due out in 2023.

Trevor’s research interests are the ethics of transplantation and genomic editing. He has also written on conscience in medicine and the limits of autonomy in healthcare.

Over the past 30 years, Mark Bale has led and shaped Government policy at the intersection between research, healthcare, ethics, and legislation. He has experience with multilateral international bodies, including the EU, OECD, WHO, and UNESCO.

Until March 2022, Mark was policy advisor and Programme Director for the 100,000 Genomes (seconded to Genomics England) together with regenerative medicine and gene therapy, genome editing, precision medicine and rare disease policy. He represented the UK at the Council of Europe Steering Committee on Human Rights and Biomedicine, and was Chair of the predecessor Committee on Bioethics at the Council of Europe from 2014-2016.