Linia Tendai Zambezi’s expertise lies at the intersection of bioinformatics, genomic medicine, and entrepreneurship. She is currently an MRes in Genomic Medicine student at the University of Cambridge and she holds a BMedSci (Hons) in Bioinformatics from the University of Cape Town, where she graduated with First-Class Honours. She also earned a BSc in Biomedicine (Cum Laude) from Eduvos South Africa, finishing at the top of her class.

Her research experience spans pharmacogenomics, genome assembly, and functional annotation, with a focus on implementing genomic medicine in clinical settings. At the University of Cambridge, she has worked on optimizing pharmacogenomics implementation in the NHS, utilizing risk assessment algorithms from Eclipse Live to identify high-risk patients for CYP2C19 testing.

She is passionate about harnessing genomic technologies to drive precision medicine initiatives in Africa and the world beyond and is committed to ensuring African populations are adequately represented in global genomics research and healthcare innovation.

Dr. Hearn is a leading researcher in the field of circadian biology, with expertise in both genetics and physiology. He is a comparative biologist, having studied circadian mechanisms in humans, zebrafish, and plants. As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Cambridge, Dr. Hearn leads the Comparative Chronomics research group, focusing on how circadian clocks operate across different species and their implications for human health. His innovative research bridges chronobiology and genomic medicine, a field he has pioneered with the term “Chronomic Medicine.” Dr. Hearn’s work aims to explore the impact of circadian biology on the inheritance and phenotypes of rare diseases, offering new insights into precision medicine.

With a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Birmingham and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, Dr. Hearn has received several prestigious awards, including the HE Woodmann Prize for the best PhD thesis in plant science. In addition to his research, Dr. Hearn is an award-nominated educator, actively involved in the Cambridge Genomic Medicine Programme. He takes a leading role in bioinformatics and next-generation sequencing data analysis, mentoring postgraduate students and collaborating with clinicians to advance chronobiological research in genomic medicine.

As Chief Technology Officer at Afromics, Dr. Hearn plays a key role in advancing the company’s mission to build inclusive, representative genomic datasets, particularly from Africa, to improve global healthcare and precision medicine outcomes.