Prof Michele Ramsay

Professor Michele Ramsay is a South African human geneticist based at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she has played a leading role in advancing genomic research on the African continent. As a key figure in the H3Africa initiative and the AWI-Gen collaboration, her work integrates population genetics, epidemiology, and public health to address health challenges relevant to African populations.

Her research focuses on genome-wide association studies, polygenic risk prediction, and the genetic architecture of complex diseases, including breast cancer, glaucoma, thyroid function, adverse drug reactions, obesity, multimorbidity, and HIV. A consistent theme is evaluating how findings derived from European-ancestry cohorts translate to African populations, highlighting genetic diversity and the need for population-specific models.

Ramsay’s contributions extend to health ethics and policy, particularly in debates on heritable genome editing in South Africa. Through large-scale collaborative cohorts and innovative analytical approaches, she has strengthened genomic capacity in Africa and advanced understanding of how ancestry shapes disease risk, reinforcing the importance of inclusive global genomics.