Caroline Wright
Caroline 'Fiona Wright' is a British biochemist who is Professor of Genetics at the University of Exeter. She develops genome-wide sequencing technology for the diagnosis of rare diseases. She was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2025.
Early life and education
Wright studied natural sciences at the University of Cambridge, where she focussed on biological chemistry. She graduated in 1997. Her doctoral research investigated the aggregation of immunoglobulin domains.Research and career
Wright joined The PHG Foundation, a think tank in Cambridge that looks to understand how emerging technologies can provide more effective healthcare and improve patient's lives.Wright was appointed to the Wellcome Sanger Institute. At Sanger she managed the Deciphering Developmental Disorders project, a translational research study that makes use of exome sequencing to understand undiagnosed developmental disorders. Genome sequencing, which is now offered on the National Health Service, can improve the quality of life of children with development disorders.
Wright joined the University of Exeter in 2017, where she was made a Personal Chair in Genomic Medicine in 2020. She has developed genome sequencing techniques to diagnose rare diseases. She looks to understand rare disease causing variants in genes. She was seconded to Genomics England where she was scientific lead for the 100,000 Genomes Project. In particular, Wright led on variant discovery and clinical interpretation.
Wright leads the Enhanced Interpretation Genomics England Clinical Interpretation Partnership. In 2025 she was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.