Muzlifah Haniffa

Prof Muzlifah Haniffa is Head of the Cellular Genomics Programme and Deputy Director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Professor of Clinical Dermatology at the University of Cambridge. She is also a Wellcome Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Clinical Science, and a Senior Research Fellow at Churchill College, University of Cambridge. A clinician-scientist, she graduated from medical school in Cardiff, trained as a junior doctor in Cambridge and received her dermatology specialist training in Newcastle, and maintains an active dermatology clinic. In her research career she has pioneered the application of single cell genomics to decode the developing human immune system across organs and developmental stages, and to understand cell and tissue dynamics in human skin in health and disease. This work includes the landmark discovery that developmental programmes are co-opted in common adult inflammatory skin diseases.

Muzlifah is co-Vice Chair of the Human Cell Atlas international consortium, and as co-ordinator of the HCA Development Bionetwork she plays a critical role in supporting this growing network of international scientists aiming to understand human development. She participates widely in the scientific community, with current roles including Trustee of the Foulkes Foundation, Sectional Committee Chair at the Academy of Medical Sciences and Chair of the Wellcome Career Development Award. Muzlifah’s work has been widely recognised by the community, including via election to the Academy of Medical Sciences (2020) and EMBO (2023), as well as personal awards including the Academy of Medical Sciences Foulkes Foundation Medal (2019), the EFIS-EJI Ita Askonas Award in Immunology (2023), the British Society for Developmental Biology Cheryll Tickle Medal (2025) and the HUGO Chen Excellence in Genomics Award (2025).