Blackwood became chair of Genomics England in May 2020. She is also chair of Oxford University Innovation, a trustee of the Alan Turing Institute, member of the Royal Society Science Policy Expert Advisory Committee and a member of the House of Lords. She served as the minister for innovation in the Department for Health and Social Care under two prime ministers, where her responsibilities included research, life sciences and NHS innovation; medicines pricing and regulation; data, digital and technology, including cyber security; international health diplomacy and global health security; and rare diseases. She was first elected as an MP for Oxford West and Abingdon in 2010 and chaired the Science and Technology Select Committee, before becoming a minister. She also chaired the Human Tissue Authority before becoming Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford in 2019