Katherine Elizabeth Templeton was born on October 25, 1968 in London, United Kingdom. She attended West Heath School, Sevenoaks, Kent from 1981 to 1986. In 1987 she started her undergraduate study at the University of Edinburgh in Biological Sciences and 1990-1991 she completed a final honours year in Microbiology and graduated in 1991. In the same year she started employment as a Clinical Scientist at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London in the Virology Department. In 1992 she started postgraduate study in a Master of Science in Virology at NESCOT (University of Surrey) as a 2-year part-time course. She graduated from University of Surrey in 1994. In 1995-1996 she took time off work to be a member of the Great Britain Olympic Rowing Squad. Following this, she began training to become a Member of the Royal College of Pathologists, under the supervision of Professor Don Jeffries and Dr. Celia Aitken. She obtained membership by examination in October 2004. In March 2001 she started employment as a research assistant in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands, working on a European Union project for development and validation of real-time PCR for the diagnosis of respiratory infections. She gradually broadened her tasks in the field of molecular diagnostics in the laboratory in Leiden, became involved in several other clinical studies and supported the implementation of these tools into clinical practice. She received the Leiden University Doctor's degree for her thesis "Improved diagnosis of respiratory pathogens by real-time PCR" on 25 October 2005. Just before that occasion, in September 2005 she started new employment as a Consultant Clinical Scientist at the Royal Infirmary Hospital, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. She is married to Richard Philipps and mother of two daughters, Rachel and Alexandra.