Elizabeth H. Blackburn, born November 26, 1948 in Hobart, Tasmania, is an American molecular biologist of Australian origin. A researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, her work focuses on the functions of telomeres, dynamic structures at the ends of chromosomes that play a protective role. She is the co-discoverer of telomerase, the enzyme that maintains chromosome length by adding a specific structure to each end: the telomere. She has also worked on medical ethics, and was the president, removed by George W. Bush, of the President's Council on Bioethics.

