Sir Mark Jeremy Walport (born 25 January 1953) is an English medical scientist and was the

Government Chief Scientific Adviser The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and head of the Government Office for Science. The Chief Scientific Adv ...

in the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2017 and Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2017 to 2020.

Education

Walport is the son of a general practitioner and was born in London. He was educated at

St Paul's School, London (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , h ...

, studied medicine at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

, and completed his clinical training at

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

, Guy's and Brompton Hospitals in London. He was awarded a PhD for research into complement receptors under the supervision of Peter Lachmann in 1986 at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Career and research

Previously Walport was Director of the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

from 2003 to 2013. Before this, he was Professor of Medicine (from 1991) and Head of the Division of Medicine (from 1997) at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, where he led a research team that focused on the immunology and genetics of rheumatic diseases. Walport was the eleventh

from 2013 to 2017, succeeding Sir John Beddington. It was announced in February 2017 that Mark Walport is now Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Honours and awards

Walport was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

list for services to medical research. He was elected an Honorary

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This socie ...

(FRSE) in 2017 and a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

(FRS) in 2011. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: His nomination for the Royal Society reads:

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walport, Mark 1953 births Living people Medical doctors from London Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge British immunologists British rheumatologists Wellcome Trust Academics of Imperial College London Knights Bachelor Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at St Paul's School, London Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians