Dr Gareth Hawkes

Dr Gareth Hawkes is an MRC Career Development Fellow and Lecturer in Health Data Science at the University of Exeter, having joined the Medical School in 2020. He was previously an NIHR BRC Translational Fellow from 2024-2025. His main expertise is the interrogation of population scale sequencing datasets, with a particular interest in whole genome sequencing. He is currently primarily focussed on developing our understanding of the non-protein coding genome: the 98% of our genome (out of 3 billion basepairs) which does not code for proteins. 

Active Research Grants

• MRC Career Development Fellowship (PI): Deciphering the non-coding genome using millions of diverse whole-genome sequences
• MRC project grant (co-I): Using whole genome sequencing to identify non-coding elements associated with diabetes and related traits across ancestries
• Helmsley Foundation Award (co-I): Genome sequencing in large and diverse type 1 diabetes cohorts
• Cancer UK Programme Grant (co-I): Identifying targeted prevention strategies for obesity related cancers through enhanced understanding of biological mechanisms and risk prediction: the Obesity-related Cancer Epidemiology Programme (OCEP)

Qualifications and Awards:

• PhD (Mathematics, University of Exeter)
• MSci Theoretical Physics with Mathematics (University of Lancaster)