I’m a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Population Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, where my group studies population history and structure and the genetics of complex disease. I lead the Orkney Complex Disease Study – ORCADES – an isolated population resource with rich phenotyping, deep genotyping, a tissue biobank and prospective follow up. The study has contributed to the discovery of over 800 new gene associations in collaboration with international consortia. I lead a genetic study of Multiple Sclerosis and the Runs of Homozygosity - ROHgen - consortium. We also analyse genetic structure and history using genome-wide data and the Y chromosome. I first demonstrated genetic evidence for Norse Viking ancestry in the British Isles over ten years ago, and founded the genetic ancestry testing companies ScotlandsDNA, BritainsDNA and IrelandsDNA. I’ve contributed to a number of TV and radio series explaining genetics to the public, including Blood of the Vikings, Blood of the Irish, The Scots: A Genetic Journey, Is it better to be mixed race?, Gatwick Baby: Abandoned at Birth, British, More or Less, Blood of the Travellers; and Meet the Izzards; and the group’s work regularly features in the print and broadcast media.