Nicole Soranzo is a Senior Group Leader at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Her work into the relationship between genetic variation and human traits and disease have provided profound insights into one of the greatest challenges in biology and medicine. Her ground-breaking research into the genetics of blood cell formation and the link to common disease has resulted in a transformative new understanding of these complex and complicated systems and their relationships. Professor Soranzo is also committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists and has been extraordinarily successful with alumni from her lab now working at prestigious research organisations around the world.