As genome sequencing (which looks at most of a person's DNA) is increasingly used in healthcare systems, its impact on societies – and individuals – needs to be understood. In this talk, Dr Saskia Sanderson explains how the science of psychology helps maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of this increasingly important technology. Saskia is a research psychologist who works in the field of psychology as applied to genomics. Saskia is interested in how people think, feel and act in response to acquiring personal genomic information about themselves, and she conducts research to answer these questions. A major focus of her work is to provide empirical evidence on the potential value of genomic sequencing technologies for humans in many contexts. She is a researcher in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health at University College London and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. Saskia's training included postdoctoral research at the Center for Cardiovascular Genetics in the UK and at the Social and Behavioral Research Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute in the US. She subsequently took a position as an assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. This talk was delivered at a TEDx event in the TED conference format, but independently organized by a local community. For more information, visit https://www.ted.com/tedx

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