Anna MiddletonDr Anna Middleton is a Consultant Research Genetic Counsellor and Principal Investigator working at the Institute of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University. She received her MSc in Genetic Counselling from the University of Manchestr in 1995, and was awarded a PhD in 2000 from the University of Leeds; her thesis involved gathering the attitudes of deaf and hard of hearing people towards pre-natal genetic testing for inherited deafness. She was also awarded registration with the Genetic Counsellor Registration Board in 2003. She has worked as a general genetic counsellor at St James's Hospital in Leeds (2000-2001) and a specialist cancer genetic counsellor at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge (2001-2005). Since then, she has run a Department of Health funded, national research project which involved collecting the views and beliefs of deaf and hard of hearing people towards genetic counselling, access to health services and attitudes towards communication with health professionals. She has previously been invited to discuss the implications of research as well as national issues relevant to deaf and hard of hearing people on the radio (e.g. BBC Radio Wales, BBC World Service, Radio Cardiff), TV (e.g. BBC See Hear, Channel 4 V-TV, CNN news, ITV Look North) and for articles published on issues about deafness (e.g. Nature, Telegraph, Western Mail). Anna Middleton has published extensively in the academic literature on deafness and genetic counselling research as well as presented at national and international conferences (in medicine, social sciences, genetic counselling and health communication). She is a UK representative on the GENDEAF European Concerted Action group on Psychosocial Issues Relating to Genetic Deafness (2002-2005), and a member of the UK Association of Genetic Nurses and Counsellors; elected by the AGNC membership on to the Genetic Counsellor Registration Board for the UK in 2004 and 2006-2010 acted in the role of Vice-Chair. Read More Read Less