Sanger researcher invited to give prestigious 2026 Balfour Lecture
Wellcome Sanger Institute Group Leader, Dr Hilary Martin, has been invited to deliver the prestigious Balfour Lecture in 2026 for her pioneering research understanding the genetic architecture of disease.
Named after the Genetics Society’s first President, Arthur Balfour, the Lecture celebrates the achievements of an outstanding early-career researcher who has made significant contributions to the field of genetics. The award is given to scientists with fewer than 10 years of postdoctoral research experience at the time of nomination.
Hilary’s research focuses on how our genes influence rare neurodevelopmental conditions and related traits using data from clinical and population-based studies. Hilary’s team has made key discoveries by showing genetic links between intellectual disability, cognitive ability and mental health traits in the general population. Using large-scale datasets, her team also explores the genetics of complex disease in populations in which consanguinity — being descended from the same ancestor — is common.
Hilary completed her PhD at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, before joining the Sanger Institute in 2018 as a postdoctoral researcher on the Deciphering Developmental Disorders study. Later in 2018, she launched her own research group at Sanger.
“To be given the chance to deliver the Balfour Lecture next year is a great honour. I’m grateful to the Genetics Society for recognising our team’s work on the genetic architecture of rare and common diseases and I’m very much looking forward to sharing our findings with the wider genetics community.”
Dr Hilary Martin, Group Leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute
More information
The lecture will be delivered during at a Genetics Society meeting in Edinburgh 25-26 June 2026.
