Nicole Soranzo

Nicole Soranzo is a Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Cambridge School of Medicine (since 2015) and Senior Group Leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute (since 2017). She currently heads the Genomics Research Center's Population & Medical Genomics Programme at Human Technopole, where her group focuses on understanding genetic influences on complex human traits and diseases. Her research integrates genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic data to uncover molecular mechanisms underlying metabolic, cardiometabolic, and immune-related disorders.

Education:

• BSc in Biology, University of Milan (1994)
• PhD in Genetics and Biotechnology, University of Dundee, UK (1999)

Research interests include:

• Genetic basis of metabolic/cardiovascular diseases
• Functional genomics of immune cell regulation
• Multi-omics approaches for drug target prioritization
• Role of rare genetic variants in disease causality

Her work has led to discoveries in immune cell epigenetics (e.g., CD14+ monocytes and T cells), blood cell formation mechanisms, and therapeutic target identification through rare variant analysis. Current projects use single-cell RNA sequencing and CRISPR-based functional screens to advance precision medicine approaches.

Key achievements include:

• Recipient of Italy's 'Most Influential Researchers & Scientists' award (ONDA, 2016)
• Leading international genomic consortia (e.g., UK10K, EU Blueprint)
• Co-developer of OpenTargets platform for drug discovery

Her lab actively trains PhD students in genomic analysis and hosts postdocs specializing in bioinformatics and experimental genetics. The group maintains collaborations across academia and industry to translate genomic insights into clinical applications.