Walter is a leading international proponent of precision medicine having originally trained as a clinician, subsequently working in the pharmaceutical industry, research institutes, and academia. He is internationally recognised for his cutting-edge research using systems approaches to understand signalling networks, and is ranked 7th in the world in precision oncology, and 12th in systems medicine (Google Scholar). Through his leading involvement in pan-European strategic initiatives including Coordinating Action Systems Medicine, Infrastructure for Systems Biology Europe, and the ELIXIR research infrastructure for life science information, Walter has played a central role in the development of precision oncology and medicine policy and funding at both national and international level.
Walter has designed, developed and coordinated innovative systems biology, systems medicine and precision medicine programmes of vision, scale and impact throughout his career, with a track record of competitive grant funding of over ‘200M. He founded the Sir Henry Wellcome Functional Genomics Facility in 2001 – one of the first facilities worldwide that integrated genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and bioinformatics under one roof pioneering multi-omics data integration. From 2005 to 2009, he was Scientific Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) Proteomics Technologies – RASOR, a £15M multidisciplinary project between the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Dundee, which focused on developing innovative proteomics technologies. RASOR produced >180 publications, 6 patents and a spin out company. It also incorporated an associated doctoral training centre. In 2009, he established SBI, a ’22M interdisciplinary research centre focusing on the design of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to diseases primarily cancer, based on a systems level, mechanistic understanding of cellular signal transduction networks. Independent international reviews consistently ranked SBI as one of the top four research centres that integrate computational modelling with experimental cell biology in the last 8 years.
Walter’s record of coordinating large scale interdisciplinary initiatives includes two EU Horizon 2020 MSCA training programme, two EU-FP7 health programmes and two large strategic UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)/Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded cross-University research collaborations. He has also partnered on 12 EU framework programmes. He is also the coordinator of the SFI funded Precision Oncology Ireland (POI) Strategic Partnership (https://www.precisiononcology.ie/). POI started in September 2019 and comprises 5 academic, 6 charity and 7 industry partners, who work together in a unique partnership aiming to develop precision diagnosis and treatments for cancer.
Walter serves on several editorial boards and scientific advisory boards and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 2022, he was given the prestigious Science Foundation Ireland Mentorship Award.