Faculty

Chris van der Walle

Adjunct Faculty

Chris van der Walle obtained his PhD in peptide chemistry from King’s College London, where he was subsequently awarded a Maplethorpe Fellowship. He moved to the University of Oxford to study cell-matrix interactions before taking up lectureships at the Universities of Bath and later Strathclyde, becoming a Reader. In 2012, he joined the Biopharmaceutical Development group of MedImmune to formulate monoclonal antibodies, then merging with AstraZeneca as Director-Fellow to develop messenger RNA lipid nanoparticle therapeutics. Over 2020-21, he led the Formulation Development team in T-cell therapeutics at GlaxoSmithKline, moving to Edinburgh in 2022 to set up the new stem cell laboratory of the Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult. His current position as Head of Formulation Science at the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency involves the production of biological reference standards for the World Health Organization. He has published over 100 research articles, reviews and book chapters and retains an interest in the pharmaceutical sciences and advanced therapy medicinal products.