Mark Walport

Education Walport is the son of a general practitioner and was born in London. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, He was awarded a PhD degree for research into complement receptors under the supervision of Peter Lachmann in 1986 at the University of Cambridge.

Career and research Previously Walport was Director of the Wellcome Trust 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,

Walport was the eleventh Government Chief Scientific Adviser 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 in the 2009 New Year Honours list for services to medical research. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in 2017 and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2011. His nomination for the Royal Society reads:

Personal life Walport is married to Dr Julia Walport MBE (nee Neild), past-master of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. Lady Walport is a trustee of the Amber Trust and of Ealing Youth Orchestra. She was made MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours.