Speakers

Muzlifah Haniffa is a Wellcome Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Head of Cellular Genomics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at Newcastle University. She graduated from medical school in Cardiff, trained as a junior doctor in Cambridge and received her dermatology specialist training in Newcastle. Muzlifah is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Member of EMBO. Her work has been recognised with numerous awards, including the Academy of Medical Sciences Foulkes Foundation Medal and the European Federation of Immunological Societies ACTERIA Prize in Immunology and Allergology. 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 two common adult inflammatory skin diseases, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.
 
Muzlifah has also made fundamental insights into other diseases such as infant and childhood leukaemia and COVID-19. Muzlifah is the co-Vice Chair of the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) international consortium, and as co-lead of the HCA Development Network 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, including current roles as a Trustee of the Foulkes Foundation, Sectional Committee Chair at the Academy of Medical Sciences and Chair of the Wellcome Career Development Award.