Professor Theresa Marteau is Professor of Health Psychology at King’s College London. She has made major contributions to our knowledge of the social and psychological impact of new genetic technologies in health care. Her early studies on women undergoing prenatal screening and testing in obstetric clinics demonstrated the significant mismatch between stated policies on pre-test counselling, and what actually happens in busy clinics. Professor Marteau has tried to actually observe and measure what occurs in the clinic rather than simply theorising about doctor-patient relationships. This field is of paramount importance, during the era of the application of the knowledge of the human genome to patients with common diseases.