Brian Walker

“The greatest strength of the National Innovation Centre for Ageing is that it is bridging across multiple sectors to define new pathways from which commercial companies, public services and most importantly citizens will all achieve a win-win of healthy longevity alongside improved productivity. This is a defining challenge of our lifetimes and one to which Newcastle University and our partners are fully committed.”

Brian Walker is Chair of the NICA Board and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research Strategy & Resources at Newcastle University with responsibility for the University’s research and innovation portfolio. He is also responsible for commercialisation of university research and for collaborating effectively with business partners, including through Newcastle’s National Innovation Centres. He has a longstanding interest in the career development of researchers and is responsible for the University’s Academic Track (NUAcT) and NUFutures schemes. Brian joined Newcastle University in 2017 from the University of Edinburgh, where he was Head of the BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science and Dean of Research for the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine. A clinical Endocrinologist, his research on steroid hormones in cardiovascular disease has been supported principally by British Heart Foundation and Wellcome Trust and led to a new drug which has reached clinical trials in patients with dementia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a former Chair of the Wellcome Trust Clinical Interview Committee and BHF Project Grants Committee and member of the Clinical Medicine sub-panel for REF2021, and currently seconded part time to MRC as Chair of the Population & Systems Medicine Board and member of MRC Strategy Board.