“I’ve become concerned about the double negative of ‘reducing illness,’ which has inherited a vast component of not only medicine but unhealthy human practices as well. Euan Ashley’s commitment to precision health provides a fresh pathway out of this congested jungle, with a chance to plant new seeds for a revisited reality of organic wellness as a new priority – contemporaneously expanding and extending the very basic qualities and enjoyment of life itself,” proposes philanthropist Roger Burnell.
Long before becoming involved in start-ups that empower AI-driven, “humanesque” digital health assistants, and well before founding Arnell Enterprises, Inc., a diversified architecture, engineering and real estate development company; and even before serving as an American scientist on loan to the European Space Agency in Paris, Burnell was teaching at UCLA. There, he chose to study under a fellow teacher who was a gifted Indian yogi and whose father was himself a visionary Asian physician. That turn of events proved to be a critical turning point in Burnell’s conceptual and practical view of life.
“This guru’s teachings, dating back some 3,500 years, profoundly altered my perspective of the Gift of Life, leading to a deep passion for re-considering our basic understanding and practices of health and well-being,” Burnell says while pointing out that “Authentic Wellness precedes and outlives illness. Authentic Yogis are known to ‘pass-on’ peacefully, without medicine and doctors at their sides.”
Decades later, that experience inspired both Roger and his wife Joelle to establish the Roger and Joelle Burnell Professor of Genomics and Precision Health in 2020, selecting Ashley as its inaugural chairholder. In addition to holding the Burnell professorship, Euan Ashley, MB ChB, DPhil, is the chair of the Department of Medicine, professor of genetics and of biomedical data science, and the Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor in Medicine.
Although he says he’s always been considered eclectic and inspired by diverse topics, Roger was focused on a key goal in creating this professorship: to renew human wellness through a holistic compendium—that is, drawing from many different cultures and practices while covering physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions in appropriate correspondence to their proven effectiveness.
The emergence of precision medicine, with its forthcoming potential to transubstantiate human lives, amplified Roger’s vision. His specific interest in both Ashley’s practice and laboratory research touched a deep chord – shining a fresh light upon his prescient dream.
For Ashley’s part, he was, “struck from the beginning by Roger's vision for the future of health care and how concordant it was with my own, together with our particular values at Stanford.”
“Roger is excited by both digital health and AI, and the concept of using technology to help prevent disease, rather than to just accept and treat it. Today’s advancements in both digital health and precision medicine allow all physicians to now deliver targeted treatments to their patients, providing improved organic health, while opening the door to expanded longevity. This is a core aspect of what I aspire to every single day – in both my research and what the Burnells are supporting through the gift of their professorship,” Ashley adds.
The Burnell Professor’s research is focused on the science of precision medicine. In 2010, Ashley led the team that carried out the first clinical interpretation of a human genome. Following that, 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.
“Euan’s work greatly hurried the ability to make genetic diagnoses, which was a revolutionary transformation in the care of critically ill patients, not to otherwise exclude the entire population of mankind,” Roger says, adding that he and Joelle “established this professorship to empower Dr. Ashley to engage in interdisciplinary research that aligns with our ambitious aspirations and goals.”
A recent additional honor validates the intent of the Burnell professorship: The National Academy of Medicine in October 2025 elected Ashley to its membership.
Election to the academy, one of the highest honors in health and medicine, is reserved for individuals who have demonstrated both outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Members are chosen based on their professional qualifications and accomplishments as shown through their publications and research grants.
“Rightly so, Dr. Ashley was elected for his role in setting the foundation for the understanding and practical application of the human genome, bringing forward the entire field of medicine while opening a broad new pathway that today innervates mankind,” Roger observes.
One of Ashley’s latest findings addresses epistasis, a particular type of interaction between gene variants. Currently, the Ashley lab is looking at how genes influence one another, toward the goal of identifying further genetic interactions and their role in complex diseases, such as cancer. They are also exploring how genetic mutations and environmental factors interact to shape complex human traits that may become involved in disease development.
“Dr. Ashley demonstrates the ultimate high caliber of commitment, research, applied medicine, and leadership that Joelle and I only dreamed might be possible,” Roger underlines.
“To me, this endowed professorship represents an enduring relationship. I always enjoy the ongoing opportunity to discuss our latest findings with the many amazing families that support Stanford medicine. The Burnells have now planted themselves among those families in pursuit of their life-long dream,” Ashley adds.
Acknowledging not only the difficult research he’s engaged in, but also the trying climate for physician scientists today, Ashley says that “one of the most impactful aspects of the Burnells’ support is that endowed professorships provide funding in perpetuity. Scientific and academic institutions are under significant financial pressure, now more than ever, and endowed professorships provide faculty with sustainable funding and freedom, enabling the pursuit of ambitious and impactful research.”
Clearly, the synergy between the Burnells' philanthropic vision and Ashley's pioneering research now sets the stage for transformative advances across the full expanse of human well-being.
