Prof. Alan Bittles received his PhD from Queen’s University, Belfast, ScD from Trinity College, University of Dublin, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. He is Emeritus Professor of Community Genetics in the School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University and Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Comparative Genomics, Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. His present research centres on the impact of consanguinity and genetic sub-structure on disease gene expression, haemoglobinopathies, and intellectual and developmental disability, with projects in Australia, India and the UK. Prof. Bittles was Inaugural Chair of RVA’s SMAC from 2015-2017 and in 2017 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services in Medical Genomics.