Professor Saheer Gharbia
GSU Chief Scientific Officer
With over 25 years of experience in research, public health, and genomics around the world, Professor Saheer Gharbia has a strong strategic vision and believes in the power of genomic surveillance to improve global human health.
Formerly the inaugural Director of Pathogen Genomics at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Professor Gharbia has deep experience building skilled teams that deliver high-impact results. She has a strong research background, having worked and trained in Canada, Germany, and the UK before embarking on a career in public health. In 2003, she joined the predecessor organisation of the UKHSA, and has been developing and implementing pathogen genomics in the UK’s public health system for two decades. More recently, she was instrumental in building the UKHSA’s world-leading COVID-19 genomics capability. She is currently the Chief Scientific Officer for the Genomic Surveillance Unit at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.