Nicola has spent a life in public service and her influence has stretched across the science, technology and health sectors. In January 2019, she became Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford and currently holds the positions of chair of Genomics England which runs the 100,000 Genomes Project, chair of the Human Tissue Authority, board member of Oxford University Innovations, advisory board member of Push Doctor and Eagle Genomics, Honorary Professor of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy at UCL, and board member of the Campaign for Science and Engineering.
In 2010 she was elected as an MP for Oxford West and Abingdon and shortly after she was elected as the only woman ever to chair the Science and Technology Select Committee which works to ensure that Government policy and decision-making are based on good scientific advice and evidence.
In 2016, she was appointed Minister for Public Health and Innovation and oversaw two major investment and transformation programmes into the UK’s Mental Health Services and NHS Digital and Cyber Security Systems.
She also founded the national campaign against child sexual exploitation, Childhood Lost, which successfully amended child protection legislation to enable police to better protect victims of sexual abuse.
Nicola was diagnosed with the genetic condition Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in 2013 and later with the associated secondary condition of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).