Jennie Bell
Jennie is a Genetics graduate from the University of Leeds and trained as a Clinical Molecular Geneticist at the Kennedy-Galton Centre, London. She subsequently moved to Birmingham in 1999 to take on a senior scientific role in the West Midlands Regional Genetics Laboratory (WMRGL) based at Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust. This service delivers genetic testing to the population of the West Midlands and offers specialised testing both nationally and internationally.
Jennie has worked in many areas of genetic diagnosis initially focussing on inherited conditions but for the last 15 years has developed a greater interest in Cancer Genetics. She has been Deputy Head of the Molecular Genetics section since 2004 but has recently become Head of the Cancer Genetics Programme which includes Haemato-oncology, Molecular Pathology and Familial cancers. Within this programme Jennie has strong collaborative links with the University Hospitals Birmingham Cellular Pathology Department based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The laboratory has a comprehensive and integrated approach to genetics using technologies from chromosome analysis to direct mutation detection by DNA/RNA sequencing; and applies these to diverse clinical applications including reproductive medicine, prenatal diagnosis, developmental disorders, single gene disorders and rare diseases, familial cancer genes, molecular pathology and haemato-oncology genomics.
The WMRGL has recently been established as one of three technical hubs in the UK funded by CR-UK to develop stratified medicine for a range of tumour types and has also been awarded two Technology Strategy Board grants in collaboration with industrial partners to develop technologies for stratified medicine.
The department works closely with the University Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, University of Birmingham and the National School for Healthcare Science. Jennie is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.
