Mark Walport

Walport is the son of a general practitioner and was born in London. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, studied medicine at Clare College, Cambridge, and completed his clinical training at Hammersmith, Guy's and Brompton Hospitals in London.{{cite web|title=Dr Sir Mark Walport|url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/w/18922/Mark%20Jeremy+WALPORT.aspx|publisher=Debrett's|access-date=14 February 2012}}{{Cite journal

| last1 = Morris | first1 = K.

| title = Mark Walport

| doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14090-1

| journal = The Lancet

| volume = 362

| issue = 9382

| pages = 498–499

| year = 2003

| pmid = 12927451

| s2cid = 10861093

}} He was awarded a PhD for research into complement receptors under the supervision of Peter Lachmann in 1986 at the University of Cambridge.{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|first=Mark Jeremy|last=Walport|title=The biology of complement receptors|publisher=University of Cambridge|year=1986|url=https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/21856278?style=html|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.383309}}|oclc=59761908}}

Previously Walport was Director of the Wellcome Trust from 2003 to 2013.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Vogel | first1 = Gretchen

| title = United Kingdom: Mark Walport to Take Reins at Wellcome Trust

| doi = 10.1126/science.299.5608.803a

| journal = Science

| volume = 299

| issue = 5608

| pages = 803a–

| year = 2003

| pmid = 12574591

| s2cid = 70581694

| doi-access = free

}} Before this, he was Professor of Medicine (from 1991) and Head of the Division of Medicine (from 1997) at Imperial College London, where he led a research team that focused on the immunology and genetics of rheumatic diseases.{{cite web|url=http://www.grandchallenges.org/about/scientificboard/Pages/Walport.aspx|title=Mark Walport, PhD, MB. BChir., Member, Scientific Board|publisher=Grand Challenges in Global Health|access-date=14 February 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927213531/http://www.grandchallenges.org/about/scientificboard/Pages/Walport.aspx|archive-date=27 September 2013|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite journal

| last1 = Walport | first1 = M.

| author-link1 = Mark Walport

| last2 = Foulkes | first2 = I.

| last3 = Weissberg | first3 = P.

| last4 = Morgan | first4 = D.

| last5 = Nebhrajani | first5 = S.

| title = Medical research: No catch to UK charity funding

| doi = 10.1038/482308a

| journal = Nature

| volume = 482

| issue = 7385

| pages = 308

| year = 2012

| pmid = 22337042

| bibcode = 2012Natur.482..308W

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| last1 = Collins | first1 = P. Y.

| last2 = Patel | first2 = V.

| last3 = Joestl | first3 = S. S.

| last4 = March | first4 = D.

| last5 = Insel | first5 = T. R.

| last6 = Daar | first6 = A. S.

| author7 = Scientific Advisory Board the Executive Committee of the Grand Challenges on Global Mental Health

| last8 = Bordin | first8 = I. A.

| last9 = Anderson | first9 = E. J.

| last10 = Dhansay | first10 = M.

| last11 = Phillips | first11 = C.

| last12 = Shurin | first12 = R. I.

| last13 = Walport | first13 = W.

| last14 = Ewart | first14 = Y.

| last15 = Savill | first15 = S. E.

| last16 = Bordin | first16 = K.

| last17 = Costello | first17 = S.

| last18 = Durkin | first18 = S.

| last19 = Fairburn | first19 = A.

| last20 = Glass | first20 = A.

| last21 = Hall | first21 = A.

| last22 = Huang | first22 = M. M.

| last23 = Hyman | first23 = V.

| last24 = Jamison | first24 = B. J.

| last25 = Kaaya | first25 = S.

| last26 = Kapur | first26 = P. A.

| last27 = Kleinman | first27 = D. J.

| last28 = Ogunniyi | first28 = W.

| last29 = Otero-Ojeda | first29 = M. A.

| last30 = Poo | first30 = W.

| last31 = Ravindranath | first31 = A.

| title = Grand challenges in global mental health

| journal = Nature

| volume = 475

| issue = 7354

| pages = 27–30

| year = 2011

| pmid = 21734685

| pmc =3173804

| doi = 10.1038/475027a

}}{{Cite journal

| last1 = Yamada | first1 = T.

| last2 = Dautry | first2 = A.

| last3 = Walport | first3 = M.

| author-link3 = Mark Walport

| doi = 10.1038/454162a

| title = Ready for avian flu?

| journal = Nature

| volume = 454

| issue = 7201

| pages = 162

| year = 2008

| pmid = 18615064

| bibcode = 2008Natur.454..162Y

| s2cid = 205039550

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| last1 = Pickering | first1 = M. C.

| last2 = Warren | first2 = J.

| last3 = Rose | first3 = K. L.

| last4 = Carlucci | first4 = F.

| last5 = Wang | first5 = Y.

| last6 = Walport | first6 = M. J.

| author-link6 = Mark Walport

| last7 = Cook | first7 = H. T.

| last8 = Botto | first8 = M.

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0601094103

| title = Prevention of C5 activation ameliorates spontaneous and experimental glomerulonephritis in factor H-deficient mice

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

| volume = 103

| issue = 25

| pages = 9649–9654

| year = 2006

| pmid = 16769899

| pmc =1476693

| bibcode = 2006PNAS..103.9649P

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| last1 = Brown | first1 = J. S.

| last2 = Hussell | first2 = T.

| last3 = Gilliland | first3 = S. M.

| last4 = Holden | first4 = D. W.

| last5 = Paton | first5 = J. C.

| last6 = Ehrenstein | first6 = M. R.

| last7 = Walport | first7 = M. J.

| author-link7 = Mark Walport

| last8 = Botto | first8 = M.

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.012669199

| title = The classical pathway is the dominant complement pathway required for innate immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in mice

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

| volume = 99

| issue = 26

| pages = 16969–16974

| year = 2002

| pmid = 12477926

| pmc =139253

| bibcode = 2002PNAS...9916969B

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.89.11.4957

| last1 = Botto | first1 = M.

| last2 = Fong | first2 = K. Y.

| last3 = So | first3 = A. K.

| last4 = Barlow | first4 = R.

| last5 = Routier | first5 = R.

| last6 = Morley | first6 = B. J.

| last7 = Walport | first7 = M. J.

| author-link7 = Mark Walport

| title = Homozygous hereditary C3 deficiency due to a partial gene deletion

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

| volume = 89

| issue = 11

| pages = 4957–4961

| year = 1992

| pmid = 1350678

| pmc = 49207

| bibcode = 1992PNAS...89.4957B | doi-access = free }}{{Cite journal | last1 = Taylor | first1 = P. R. | last2 = Carugati | first2 = A. | last3 = Fadok | first3 = V. A. | last4 = Cook | first4 = H. T. | last5 = Andrews | first5 = M. | last6 = Carroll | first6 = M. C. | last7 = Savill | first7 = J. S. | author-link7 = John Savill| last8 = Henson | first8 = P. M. | last9 = Botto | first9 = M. | doi = 10.1084/jem.192.3.359 | last10 = Walport | first10 = M. J. | title = A Hierarchical Role for Classical Pathway Complement Proteins in the Clearance of Apoptotic Cells in Vivo | journal = Journal of Experimental Medicine | volume = 192 | issue = 3 | pages = 359–366 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10934224| pmc =2193213 }}

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).{{Cite press release|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sir-mark-walport-will-lead-uk-research-and-innovation|title=Sir Mark Walport will lead UK Research and Innovation |website=www.gov.uk|language=en |date=2 February 2017|access-date=4 July 2017}}

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{{Cite press release|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/rse-welcomes-60-new-fellows/|title=RSE Welcomes 60 New Fellows|date=15 February 2017 |publisher=Royal Society of Edinburgh |access-date=28 March 2017}} and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2011.{{cite web |url=https://royalsociety.org/people/mark-walport-12480/ |title=Sir Mark Walport |publisher=Royal Society|author=Anon|year=2011 |access-date=5 July 2012}} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{quote|“All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111170346/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/|title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies|date=2016-11-11}}}} His nomination for the Royal Society reads: {{quote|Mark Walport has an overwhelming case for election both for his earlier scientific work on the immunology of systemic LE and the role of complement and of defective apoptosis in its pathogenesis; and, as a general candidate, for his achievements as head of medicine at the Hammersmith Campus of Imperial College and since 2003 as Director of the Wellcome Trust. In the latter role he has provided national and international leadership at the highest level on biomedical research and policy issues and is widely recognised as a world leader in the promotion of biomedical science.}}

Walport is married to Dr Julia Walport MBE (nee Neild), 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.

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• {{CC-notice|cc=by4|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/mark-walport-12480}}

{{S-start}}

{{s-gov}}

{{s-bef | before = John Beddington}}

{{s-ttl | title = Government Chief Scientific Adviser | years = 2013−2017}}

{{s-aft|after=Chris Whitty
Acting}}

{{s-culture}}

{{S-bef|before=Michael Dexter}}

{{s-ttl|title=Director of Wellcome Trust | years=2003–2013}}

{{s-aft|after=Jeremy Farrar}}

{{S-end}}

{{FRS 2011}}

{{Wellcome Trust}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walport, Mark}}

Category:1953 births

Category:Living people

Category:Medical doctors from London

Category:Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge

Category:British immunologists

Category:British rheumatologists

Category:Wellcome Trust

Category:Academics of Imperial College London

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians