Sir Mark Jeremy Walport (born 25 January 1953) is an English

medical scientist Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

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 Advi ...

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 = , he ...

, 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 refounded ...

, 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 Hospital Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung medical centre in the United Kingdom. It is managed by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. History Consumption in the 19th Century In the 19th century, consumption was a co ...

s in London. He was awarded a PhD for research into

complement receptor A complement receptor is a membrane-bound receptor belonging to the complement system, which is part of the innate immune system. Complement receptors bind effector protein fragments that are produced in response to antigen-antibody complexes or ...

s under the supervision of

Peter Lachmann Sir Peter Julius Lachmann (23 December 1931 – 26 December 2020) was a British immunologist, specialising in the study of the Complement system, complement system. He was emeritus Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology at the University of ...

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 disease Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

s. Walport was the eleventh

from 2013 to 2017, succeeding Sir

John Beddington Sir John Rex Beddington HonFREng (born 13 October 1945) is a British population biologist and Senior Adviser at the Oxford Martin School, and was previously Professor of Applied Population Biology at Imperial College London, and the UK Govern ...

. 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 Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

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 soci ...

(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 science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(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