Bio
Euan Ashley graduated with first class Honors in Physiology and Medicine from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He completed medical residency and a PhD (DPhil) at the University of Oxford before moving to Stanford University in California where he studied genetics, data science, and completed subspecialty training in cardiovascular medicine. Dr Ashley is currently Chair of the Department of Medicine, Stanford's largest department with 15 divisions and over 800 faculty.
Dr Ashley’s research is focused on the science of precision medicine. In 2010, he led the team that carried out the first clinical interpretation of a human genome. Over the following years, his team built tools to analyze the genomes of the first patient family sequenced, completed the first whole genome molecular autopsy, made the first genetic diagnosis using long read sequencing, and helped establish genome sequencing as a routine part of the care of patients worldwide. In 2022, he led a collaborative team to set a Guinness World Record for the speed of sequencing a human genome, completing the variant calling in five hours and making genetic diagnoses in critically ill patients in just over seven hours — less than half the time of the previous record.
Dr Ashley’s work in data science, artificial intelligence, and digital health has also broken boundaries. He leads the My Heart Counts Cardiovascular Health Study. Launched in collaboration with Apple in 2015, the application was the fastest recruiting medical study in history. More recently, his team works on artificial intelligence across multiple scales: Generative protein and DNA models direct design of novel genetic therapies; cellular morphology models define cellular phenotypes; multimodal models augment physician decision making in the clinic; generative models individualize behavioral health interventions for physical activity at population scale.
Dr Ashley co-directs Stanford’s biomedical innovation-translation program, Catalyst, which invests in Stanford’s most promising biomedical innovations. Since 2012, Dr Ashley has co-founded 7 biotechnology companies. He is a non-executive director of the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca where he chairs the Board Science Committee.
Dr Ashley has received national and international recognition for his work including the NIH New Innovator Award, the American Heart Association (AHA) National Innovation Award and the Medal of Honor. He was recognized by the Obama White House for contributions to Personalized Medicine and worked with President Obama’s Office of Science and Technology Policy on programs including the Precision Medicine Initiative (All Of Us) and the Frontiers science and technology conference. In 2023, he was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of his exceptional scholarship and promise.
Dr Ashley’s first popular science book The Genome Odyssey was released in 2021. Favorably reviewed by the international press including the Wall Street Journal and the Times of London, it has been translated into multiple languages and distributed globally.
Father to three Americans, Dr. Ashley spends his free time piloting small planes, mountain biking, and playing soccer. A devoted—some might say obsessive—follower of Liverpool Football Club, he also spends time tending to his special research program focused on the health benefits of single malt Scotch whisky.
