Professor Julian Barwell

Julian Barwell is a clinical geneticist in Leicester and Honorary Professor in Genomic Medicine at the University Hospitals of Leicester. He was brought up in Surrey, trained at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals in London and completed his PhD in breast cancer susceptibility in 2006 under the supervision of Professor Shirley Hodgson and Professor Rosalind Eeles. 

 He has 160 publications and helped coin the internationally known phrase, the 'Angelina Jolie effect' on her impact on referrals to inherited breast cancer clinics. He developed the first You Tube channel for Clinical Genetics that has been viewed in over 100 countries. He is a senior author of Clinical Genetics and Genomics at a Glance as well as  the internationally translated children's book on DNA called 'What is DNA?'. He has written book chapters on medical innovation, returning to the wards during the covid pandemic and breast cancer genetics. He was awarded an honorary chair (professorship) by the University of Leicester in 2015 for outreach and engagement. He has also spoken on BBC Radio 4 on The World at One and Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 5 Live, many regional media organisations and a number of national and international podcasts, including with Amy Dowden MBE. Julian helped establish the 100,000 Genome Project in Leicester and launched the cancer arm of the project on the BBC Breakfast sofa. 

 Julian is a clinical advisor to the National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline, is clinical lead of the United Against Prostate Cancer project establishing tumour BRCA testing and raising awareness of prostate cancer susceptibility and developed a lynch syndrome patient-facing App with Lynch Syndrome UK and Instant Access Medical.  He co-identified a gene associated with liver cancer susceptibility, helped develop prostate cancer detection techniques in urine samples and currently support research grants in ophthalmology, the social sciences and thoracic aortic dissection. 

 Julian is the joint clinical lead of the Paediatric and Genetics Clinical Research Facility at the Leicester Royal Infirmary with which he is establishing a fragile X syndrome national hub as part of a community, research and holistic care co-creation project, alongside Chris McQuade and colleagues at the University Hospitals of Leicester and Dr Samuel Tromans at the University of Leicester.  

 Julian has a community charity MBE equivalent (Queen's Award) as part of the Rutland Rotoract Family Support Centre for the support of individuals with additional needs and lectures on familial cancer susceptibility, co-creation with stakeholders in developing services, 21st century healthcare and working with the media. He is an official external examiner at the University of Dundee and regularly examines and reviews grants.

• A) Shared digital and genomic platform research including:
  • 1. Previvorship in the digital Age
  • 2. Previvorship and survivorship in thoracic aortic dissection
  • 3. Previvorship in Lynch Syndrome
• B) Prostate tumour sequencing and community engagement in prostate cancer
• C) Fragile X interventional research studies 

Barwell et al The dawn of genomic medicine: the role of the 100,000 Genome Project Oncology Central 2016

Barwell and Kumar Genomic Testing and Genomic Care: Are They Talking to Each Other? Journal of Clinical Research and Bioethics 6 (6) (2015) http://philpapers.org/rec/BARGTA-2

Jones G et al Dr J Barwell senior author. Developing and assessing the utility of a You-Tube based clinical genetics video channel for families affected by inherited tumours. Fam Cancer. 2016 Apr;15(2):351-5. doi: 10.1007/s10689-016-9866-8.

Pal et al. Dr J Barwell senior author Immunocytochemical detection of ERG expression in exfoliated urinary cells identifies patients with prostate cancer with high specificity. BJU Int. 2016 Apr;117(4):686-96. doi: 10.1111/bju.13184. Epub 2015 Jul 29.

Browning M et al Dr J Barwell senior author Cowden's and immunodeficiency. Journal of Medical Genetics J Med Genet. 2015 Aug 5.

Craft et al. Dr J Barwell Senior author. Supporting families with Cancer: A patient centred survivorship model of care. 2015 familial Cancer 2015 Jun 16.

D Gareth Evans, Julian Barwell, Diana M Eccles, Amanda Collins, Louise Izatt, Chris Jacobs, Alan Donaldson, Angela F Brady, Andrew Cuthbert, Rachel Harrison, Sue Thomas, Anthony Howell, FH02 Study Group; RGC teams; Zosia Miedzybrodzka, Alex Murray. The Angelina Jolie effect: how high celebrity profile can have a major impact on provision of cancer related services Breast Cancer Res. 2014 Sep 19;16(5):442. 

Shared digital genomic projects.

Medicine Medical Genetics Community groups/schools and Postgraduate.

Familial cancer Fragile X syndrome and digital/genomics solutions to build innovative 21st century Healthcare solutions.

A number of radio broadcasts on genomic testing and my Facebook COVID diary when I returned to the wards after a nineteen year break. This covers my feelings and also explains genomic medicine in every day language.

BSc, MBBS, FRCP (UK), PhD, AFHEA, and honorary professorship.