Professor of Medical and Family Sociology
Sarah Cunningham-Burley is Professor of Medical and Family Sociology and Dean of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences: Edinburgh Medical School, at the University of Edinburgh. She is also the University-wide lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
Sarah is also Co-Director of the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society, which is supported by Wellcome. She holds a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award, Transformations and Translations in Patienthood: cancer in the post-genomic era, jointly with Professor Anne Kerr at the University of Glasgow, outputs from which include Personalised Cancer Medicine: Future Crafting in the Genomic Era (Manchester University Press) and a graphic novel and other material developed by Ziggy’s Wish.
Sarah has a strong interest in public engagement with research and its role in governance. She led the public engagement research strand for the FARR Institute and the Administrative Data Research Centre in Scotland, focusing on using dialogue and deliberation to understand public perceptions and interest in data-intensive health research and using engagement to support good governance.
Sarah is regularly involved in a range of public engagement activities and events aimed at dialogue about key issues in health research, and co-commissioned a Citizens’ Jury on the research use of Guthrie Cards.