Dr. Chiara Batini

Youtube link 1: Dr. Chiara Batini: Equity & Diversity in Genomics | Case Studies from Her Work (Part 1)

Youtube link 2: Dr. Chiara Batini on increasing representation in Genomics studies (Part 2)

I am a Senior Research Fellow in Genetic Epidemiology in the Department of Population Health Sciences, as part of the Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), in the Data Innovation for Multiple Long-Term Health Conditions and Ethnic Health theme. I also support our local cohort, EXCEED, in terms of sample and data management and as a coordinator for our participation in consortia genome-wide association studies. In the first part of my career I studied human population history, with a special focus on sex-biased processes and the role of culture and climate in the history of Central Africa and Europe, by bringing together genomics with linguistics and archaeology. Over the past eight years I have focused on understanding smoking behaviours, as well as several other traits and diseases, and studied their genetics in diverse populations, with a special focus on the African continent. During my recent UKRI Innovation Fellowship at HDR UK I have published the first genetic study of smoking focussed on individuals from continental Africa. I either lead or supervise many different large-scale genomic studies using baseline data and electronic health records from either national or international cohorts. I am currently working on the genetic overlap between multiple long-term conditions and how this transfers between different population groups.
In my research I do what I can to tackle representation biases in genomics, from both the data and the workforce perspectives. I favour projects that either aim at focusing solely on underrepresented groups, or that at least include a multi-ancestry perspective. I collaborate with local cohorts in Africa, Central America and the UK, and I contribute to training and supervision of students from different backgrounds. In parallel I contribute to discussing genomics with the general public with the hope of empowering individuals to make informed choices when it comes to participation in research. As an example, I co-lead a project that brought together art and science, and generated a digital art piece, as well as an outreach activity that we are bringing to the communities in the next months.

A full description of this project and the artistic piece can be found here: Click Here

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