Richard Milne

I'm a sociologist of science, technology and medicine. I am Senior Social Scientist in the Society and Ethics Research group at the Wellcome Genome Campus/Sanger Institute, and hold a research post in the Institute of Public Health at the University of Cambridge. I have expertise in the social and ethical considerations associated with the development of data-driven diagnostic technologies, specifically related to ageing and cognitive decline and the sharing and use of large-scale genomic data.

My empirical research primarily draws on qualitative research methods, including focus groups, interviews and ethnographic approaches. However, at the Sanger, I also lead analysis of the Your DNA, Your Say study of global public attitudes towards genomic data sharing. I lead ELSI workpackages within two Innovative Medicines Initiative projects on Alzheimer's disease, and work on ethics within Alzheimer Research UK's Early Detection of Neurodegeneration initiative, and am a member of the Ethics and Feedback Advisory Group for the UK government's Accelerating Detection of Disease (ADD) project. I am also an advisor to the European Health Data and Evidence Network (EHDEN), and previously co-led the University of Cambridge Ethics of Big Data research group.

I received my PhD from University College London in 2010 and have held posts at UCL, the University of Sheffield, Birkbeck University of London and on secondment at the PHG Foundation health policy think tank.