Frank S. Walsh PhD, DSc (Hon.) FMedSci, FKC, corrFRSE (born 1953 in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire) is a British-born neuroscientist. He is best known for his work on the understanding of the role of cell adhesion molecules in the development and regeneration of the nervous system. He is the author of over 250 publications in peer-reviewed journals. In 2008 he was made a Corresponding Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

, and in 2007 became a Fellow of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. He has also received honorary degrees from the Universities of Perugia and Bologna in Italy, and the University of Strathclyde and University of Dundee in Scotland. Walsh started his scientific career with an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Strathclyde (1974)and a subsequent PhD in biochemistry from University College London with the research being carried out at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research(1977). His post-doctoral training was conducted under the tutelage of the Nobel prize winner Marshall Nirenberg at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, USA (1977–79). From 2002 - 2009 he was executive vice president of discovery research at Wyeth, a leading pharmaceutical company in Collegeville Pennsylvania, US. In this role he has been responsible for overseeing the transition of more than 80 novel drug candidates into clinical development for a number of devastating diseases such as

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

, stroke, schizophrenia, cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and COPD. In 2012 he formed a new biotechnology company called Ossianix to develop biological therapeutics for serious diseases of the brain and other organ systems. www.ossianix.com. The company is based in Philadelphia, US, and Stevenage, UK. He was Sir William Dunn Professor and head of experimental pathology at the United Medical and Dental Schools from 1989, and research dean from 1994 until 1997 when he joined SmithKline Beecham as vice president of neuroscience research. With the creation of

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...

from the merger of SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome, he became senior vice president and head of the company's Neurology-Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery. In addition to his corporate roles, he holds visiting professorships at

, the University College Dublin, and was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences (London) in 2003. In addition, he has been chairman of the

Muscular Dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

Campaign research committee, a Trustee of Spinal Research, a visiting examiner at

, an adviser to the college's

MRC MRC may refer to Government * Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) * Medical Reserve Corps, a US network of volunteer organizations * Municipalité régionale de comté (regional county municipality), Quebec, Canada * Military Revolutionar ...

Centre for Developmental Neurobiology and a special advisor to the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases. He was also joint editor-in-chief of the journal ''

Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience ''Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience'' publishes original research of high significance covering all aspects of neurosciences indicated by the broadest interpretation of the journal's title. In particular, the journal focuses on synaptic maintena ...

''.Elsevier: ''Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience'': Editorial Board
(accessed 6 January 2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Frank S 1953 births Living people British neuroscientists University of Perugia alumni University of Bologna alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) People from Wishaw Academics of King's College London Fellows of King's College London